


The Lake

by HollyEDolly



Series: Hunted [1]
Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: F/M, Love, lake
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-11-05
Updated: 2014-02-02
Packaged: 2017-12-31 14:29:02
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 17
Words: 62,030
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1032769
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HollyEDolly/pseuds/HollyEDolly
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This takes place after a disastrous mission that leaves Skye and Ward with a price on their heads, as a result they are placed into a safehouse in a secluded location.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Lake

**Author's Note:**

> Hi Guys
> 
> This is an ongoing story for Skye and Ward and contains no smut :o well not yet anyway ;), anyway I hope you like it and I will try and update as soon as I can.

The scene laid out before the beautiful brunette was one of nature’s true wonders, she admired the way the moonlight bounced off the large body of inky black water. It was a clear summer’s night, the air was warm and away from the big city lights you could see every star in the sky for the first time in the last two days Skye felt truly calm and this is how he found her...

She looked like she stepped into a painting of an angel or a goddess, her back was to him and she had yet to register his presence. He made a mental note to address her lack of awareness in their next training session; it would not do for her not to be aware of being snuck up on especially after what had almost happened a few days ago. His attention turned back to Skye she looked serene standing by the water’s edge in only a white summer dress. The air was thick with heat and humidity it had been a scorcher of a day and the temperature had not dropped much after the sun had set.   
They’d been forced to take refuge out in the middle of nowhere in one of S.H.I.E.L.D’s safe houses both of their lives now in danger. They’d saved a lot of innocent people but had pissed off one bad assed super villain in the process as a result it was now to dangerous for them to be in the field until said bad ass was in custody. This really pissed Grant Ward off because he had been trained to be the whole solution so sitting idly by while someone else hauled the son of a bitch in did not sit well at all. He shook of this bitter train of thought and began focusing on his beautiful rookie again.

All of a sudden she began to walk straight into the lake, the water sloshing around her, at first Grant was amused by this sight he was sweating buckets so he couldn't blame her for wanting to cool off a little. From where he stood he could not see her face so he missed the blissful smile that tugged at her lips when she threw herself back into the cold water arms stretched out at her sides, she floated for a moment before letting herself sink beneath the surface.  
Grant watched the surface of the water nervously looking for signs that she had resurfaced, when he saw non panic erupted in his chest had she been pulled under? Was she so traumatised she was trying to drown herself? He ran to the water at break neck speed that would put an Olympian to shame. Crashing into the water he waded to where she had gone under and searched desperately for her, where was she? She couldn't have just disappeared!

All of a sudden she burst up behind him water flying everywhere and she was laughing like a kid that had played a trick on her dad. Her laughter lit up her features and the affect was stunning she truly was a beauty but he was seriously not amused and his face set into a hard mask.  
“Skye what the Hell?”  
“What?” she looked at him her doe eyes full of feigned innocence.  
“You scared the hell out of me, I thought you’d drowned!!!” he spat.  
“Wow way to overreact robot, it’s like 100 degrees out here, I thought I’d cool of a little”  
“By making me think you’d drowned?!” his tone was incredulous.  
“It’s not my fault you where creeping around, you do know that’s creepy right?” she was teasing him, normally he’d only find this mildly annoying but with everything that had happened it made him even madder than before.  
“I was not creeping around, we’re supposed to stick close together remember or had you forgotten theirs a mad lunatic on the loose that wants us both dead?!”

Her face fell and he instantly regretted being so hard on her “Of course I haven’t forgotten, how could I? It was my throat her nearly cut!” she yelled her voice thick with unshed tears. Great now he felt terrible, god he was such a jackass sometimes and way to prone to overreaction but he couldn't help it, it was the only way he knew how to be. “I’m sorry Skye, I didn't mean to upset you, it’s just the thought of anything bad happening to you scares the crap out of me”  
Her shoulders started to shake as the tears he knew she’s been holding back since that awful night began to slide thick and fast down her face and she began to sob uncontrollably. Skye being Skye did not want him to see her cry, this he knew, she was desperately trying to pull herself together dashing her tears away with her hands. He couldn't stand seeing her so raw and vulnerable it was like a knife twisting in his heart, her pain became his. He wasn't sure when it actually happened but he could no longer deny what she meant to him she was more than a colleague and he was a liar if he called her just a friend. No she’d gotten under his skin that very first day he’d met her, and he just couldn't shake her, she’d become a part of his very soul, he was helplessly in Love with her. Seeing her with that knife pressed to her throat was the single worst experience of his life, he would never forget the icy fear that had run down his spine as her blood began to trickle down her precious neck. If May had not burst in at that precise second and knocked the knife away (there was a reason they called that woman the cavalry), he closed his eyes and pushed the dark thoughts away. She was safe, she was here no thanks to him.

When he opened his eyes the hard mask was gone, his anger had abated he closed the distance between them and pulled her tight against his muscular chest he wrapped himself around her like she was the most precious thing in the world, to him she was. The guilt he felt at not being able to protect her was like bile in his mouth, it burned him and in that moment he made a silent promise that he would be the one to take the bastard down, fuck protocol he would not put Skye in danger for revenge but he was going to tear the fuckers spine out if it was the last thing he did.

He didn't know how long they stood like that but when her sobs began to quiet he lifted her chin up with his finger so he could look her in the eye and he spoke with sincere determination. “Skye I promise you, I will never let anyone hurt you again. I’ll die before I let him touch you again” a single tear rolled down his cheek, Skye caught it with her thumb and wiped it away. She looked straight up at him, even tearstained she was breath taking and she did something she rarely did she called him by his first name, it felt so intimate coming from her lips. “Grant do you think I would survive if anything happened to you? What happened was not your fault”.  
“But I’m supposed to protect you, he never should have got close to you, I nearly lost you!”  
“I’m here Grant, You’re here, we made it out alive that’s what matters and for the record you do a damn could job of protecting me, I can’t count the times you've saved my ass” she gave him a small smile before pressing her lips to his cheek, as she pulled back he turned his head catching her lips and kissing her gently at first, deepening the kiss when she responded kissing him back. That single kiss held so much emotion love, loss, fear and pain the icy fear that had settled around Grant’s heart began to thaw as he lost himself in the moment.

The cool waist deep water lapped and rippled around them as the moonlight shone down almost caressing the young lovers. When they finally broke apart he took her face in his hands and looked deep into her eyes “I Love you so much it hurts, do you know that?”  
“Yeah I know that Grant, because I love you too”  
That was all he needed to here he pulled her into another deep kiss. In the last two days he had had the worst and then the best experience of his life, and there was still a psycho out for their blood but for now they were safe, they were together and he intended to make sure that was how they stayed.


	2. The Nightmare

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Skye and Ward are still holed up in their lakeside cabin their relationship is progressing well with only one problem Skye's nightmares.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi Guys
> 
> As always the show and it's characters are the property of marvel and abc not me and I make no money from my work, I decided to give skye and ward a nice moment before the plot thickens and I put them through hell in the next few chapters hope you enjoy it.

Skye shot up in bed, drenched in cold sweat and panting like a wounded animal. Her sudden movement roused the slumbering Adonis beside her “Same dream?” he enquired his voice thick with sleep.  
“Yeah” her breathing had slowed up a little once she registered where she was and who lie beside her. Grant looked up at her eyes full of concern, she tried to give him a reassuring smile but it came out as more of a grimace. He knew she was trying to hide her fear “It’s only been a week Skye, you don’t have to pretend you’re OK, not to me”

“I know, I guess I'm just not used to having someone that cares around” she said apologetically. He smiled sadly at her Skye's past was a tragic one she’d spent most of her childhood living between foster homes that had never seemed to work out and St Agnes. Her ex Miles had turned out to be a snake in the grass and she was no closer to finding out who her parents where and what happened to them. All things considered there was little wonder she found it hard to put her trust in others, but she’d trusted him enough to let him into her bed and her heart so that was a start.

“Come here” he pulled her down into his arms, her head resting above his heart. He kissed her hair lightly before proceeding to stroke the long chestnut waves “There’s no way I'm letting him get to you, not now not ever” his tone one of pure conviction. She sighed sleepily “I know, I feel safe with you Grant I don’t know what I’d do if you weren't here”

“I’m not going anywhere Skye, I won’t bail on you we've been through too much for that”

She gave him a real smile this time one that touched her beautiful brown eyes, she pressed her lush lips to his in a tender kiss once…twice. He cupped her face deepening the kiss slipping his tongue through her parted lips. Their kisses were electric the air crackled around them, his hands moved down her body to her waist before he pulled her on top of him. Her soft body pressing into his hard one, it had only been five days since they’d finally admitted their feelings at the Lake and since then they’d been inseparable. It was only Skye’s nightmares that reminded them why they were holed up in this secluded cabin, he pushed those worries aside for later. Now was not the time to focus on that awful night not when the woman he loved was kissing him like their lives depended on it.

Skye was full of fire and heart and he loved that about her, yes sometimes she was thoughtless and incredibly reckless but even the stupidest things she did she did for love. Maybe that’s why they were drawn together part of him wished he could be a little more like her but one of them had to be logical or they’d both end up dead. He could live with the robot label as long as he kept her safe.

Her little hands began to wonder exploring the sculpted plains of his chest, god what those hands did to him he could feel the affect already. She’d turned him into a damn teenager; he cocked an eyebrow at her “Again?” A mischievous smile played on her lips, god he loved that smile it held so much promise “Yeah, unless your too sleepy?”  
“Never” he kissed her with animal passion, she moaned into his mouth, his hands found her hips he twisted and then rolled her underneath him. He turned his attention to her graceful neck kissing and nipping his way up and down the tender flesh, this sent shivers down her spine this was one of her favorite spots and he’d taken great delight in learning them all over the past few days. She threaded her finger through his hair pulling him closer, he smiled against her neck always so greedy and impatient but he planned on taking his time this time.

They were already gloriously nude party because of the scorching heat wave that had hit the area but mostly because they never seemed to keep clothes on for very long these days. He kissed and teased her curvaceous body worshiping her almost until she was a hot mess on the bed, he paid special attention to all the little spots that made her squirm her breasts, stomach, inner thighs, toes and his favorite that sweet spot at the back of her knee’s that made her cry out. He’d always been an observant guy its part of what made him a good agent and the reason that Skye was now putty in his hands. He kissed his way back up her body, nipping her inner thighs working his way up with the intention of teasing her sweetest spot of all, but as blissful as all his attentions were she had had enough of being teased she needed him now.

“Grant please, I can’t take anymore” she begged, he chucked against her thigh the sensation reverberated through her. “Always so impatient rookie”  
“You know it” she giggled pulling him back up to her and into another deep kiss that curled her toes. He parted her legs and settled between her thighs pushing into her gloriously slowly, she gasped at the feel of him like velvet steel sliding in and out of her at a slow and languorous pace. His eyes rolled back into his head as he let out a satisfied groan she felt so good warm, wet and tight. He kissed her passionately between thrusts his pace increasing painfully slowly they savored every sensation as their climax began to build. Finally he could hold back no more he thrust into her hard and past; she showed her approval by wrapping her legs around his waist her feet pressed into his ass urging him on. Her feminine muscles flexed around his hard length, she was close he could always tell, he thrust into her harder hitting her G spot square on until finally she could take no more, the sensation was too much an intense orgasm ripped through her body making her shudder as she rode the waves of pleasure that washed through her.

He could feel her flex and release around him, her calling out his name was his undoing he stilled and spilled into her collapsing against her spent. If it were up to him he would spend all his time with her joined like this, given their inability to keep their hands off each other he was glad that Skye was on the shot. Since they were not allowed to leave the safety of the cabin for now it saved him a very awkward conversation with Coulson. He was sure his superior was on to them but for now they were wrapped up in their own little bubble away from the rest of the team and the outside world. They’d had enough to worry about this last week there was no need to add to that now by bringing up their new relationship with S.H.I.E.L.D. He gently eased out of her and rolled so he was on his side he held her close his fingers running up and down her spine.

“Feeling better?”  
“Hmmm”  
“You think you can sleep now?”  
“Hmm”

He’d rendered her speechless, well that had to be a first he chuckled at the thought, he kissed her lips once more it was a sweet chaste kiss “Love you baby”  
“Love you too” she mumbled sleepily before falling into a deep sleep, she didn't wake again that night as the slept wrapped around each other.


	3. The Chase

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When Ward and Skye are discovered drama unfolds can ward get Skye to safety in time? and who gave up their location?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi Everyone
> 
> Sorry about the late update, I've been manic this week anyway this is I hope the first of my next few action packed chapters. Be warned their won't be many nice moments over the next few chapters we are going to the dark side lol. I hope you all like it as always I do not own the show or its characters and make no money from my work. If you want to follow my fan and independant fiction look up Skye's Scrapbook (hollyedolly) on tumblr :).

Her breath came in sharp gasps, her lungs burned as she ran through the dense forest that surrounded the cabin. Her worst fears realised, they had been found. Only a few select agents at S.H.I.E.L.D along with the team knew where they had been placed. They had no cell phones, no tech at all which had sucked. Only the encoded com system enabled them to check in with Coulson back on the bus. There had been nothing to hack, they barely left the cabin and Ward had been obsessive in making sure they were never followed. A disturbing thought occurred to her, had they been sold out? The psycho had powerful connections and a fortune to match it was no stretch to believe that he could have paid off one of the agents to leak their location. She pushed these thoughts away right now it didn't matter how he’d found them the fact was, he had.

Grants large hand was wrapped around her small one and he was pulling her along with him, snapping her thoughts back to the here and now. The psycho wasn't alone he had two beefed up goons with him all of them armed and extremely dangerous. He’d like nothing more than to turn and face the bastards, he could barely contain the urge to carry out that promise he’d made himself but Skye was with him she was putting a brave face on it, but he knew her well enough to know she was terrified. Her nightmares had not abated, not that he was surprised it wasn't like he was affected by what he’d seen in that lab but he took the world as it was. Skye was still young barely out of her teens and although she’d been through more than most she still had a childlike naiveté about her. He had to get her out of here he couldn't risk him getting his hands on her, what she didn't know what he couldn't bring himself to tell her was that this fucker had had no intention of killing her that night. His stunt with the knife was just a sick way of torturing her; there were worse things than death and he was damn sure the sick sadist knew how to inflict every one of them. The thought turned his blood to ice; he was going to take this fucker down just as soon as Skye was safe.

A shot rang out piercing the stillness of the forest; it whizzed by them narrowly missing Ward and embedded into an ancient oak. Skye yelped but she did not slow, adrenaline and fear fuelled her now she picked up her pace so that she was no longer being dragged but matching Ward stride for stride.  
Grant had had just enough time to alert Coulson before they had to flee; they had to ditch the coms. If there was any chance that they could have been compromised then they wouldn't stand a chance of escaping their enemy. The team had pulled together an extraction plan just in case the duo was discovered, but none of them had expected to use it. Their location had been classified well above level 7; this brought an array of disturbing possibilities to Grants mind he couldn't help the unease that had settled in his stomach. There was more to this, he could feel it. He would get Skye to safety and then he didn't care if he had to storm Fury’s office he would get to the bottom of this. There was no way he was trusting the fate of the woman he loved to others, not now. 

The tree’s began to thin which meant they were close to the road that cut through the forest but if May and Coulson were not waiting for them...He knew what he’d have to do and for the first time in his life he wanted to do it, craved it. His lack of conscious on the matter took him by surprise, sure he’d killed before but he’d never lusted for it. If you were going to be bad, be bad with a purpose right? What better purpose was there than protecting the one you loved?  
Another shot rang out but this one did not speed past, this one connected with Skye’s leg, she stumbled crying out in pain. Grant swung round and scooped her up in his muscular arms he didn't have time to panic, now more than ever he had to get her back to the bus. He hoped to god the bullet had not hit the femoral artery or...he shook himself, she was going to be fine as long as he got her out of here. His head emptied of any other thought; he was a man on a mission. He could see the road and headlights! He ran faster than he ever thought possible barely feeling Skye’s weight, he was on top of the road now and the familiar vehicle came into view it was the short bus. They were going to make it the feeling was almost euphoric. Coulson threw open the rear doors, concern etched on his face and then he saw Skye and his concern turned to fear.

They loaded her into the back of the van, and May floored it not a minute too soon as a rain of bullets hit the van. Wards relief left him as soon as he had a proper look at Skye, he’d not had time to stop or check out her wound he’d just hoped it was a graze. It wasn't his heart stopped; it had hit the femoral artery her jeans were soaked in bright red blood. She was sheet white and barely breathing, losing blood at an alarming rate. Panic struck him he couldn't move, this was not good even if they got her back to the bus to Simmons it could already be too late. Always the calm and collected agent, Coulson took over he took off his suit jacket and tie, he tied the tie tightly above the wound to form a tourniquet. Pressing his jacket to the wound to staunch the blood, Skye began to shake violently she was going into shock.

Grant snapped out of it as Coulson snapped orders at May “How Far?”

“2 minutes” even May, ever calm May was worried this was not good.

“Tell Simmons to be ready, she’s going to need a blood transfusion at least”

“Got it, as soon as I get the wheels up we’ll get her to the nearest field hospital”

“How the hell did he find them” it was almost a whisper.

“I don’t know” her tone was clouded with worry and suspicion.

Meanwhile Grant was beside Skye hand grasping hers tightly “Come on baby, hold on, please hold on” he didn't care right then who heard him or what they thought. He pressed his forehead to hers “Please don’t leave me” he whispered his voice thick with tears. Coulson used his spare hand to comfort the heartbroken agent squeezing his shoulder.

“She’s going to be OK Ward” he almost sounded confident but not quite.

The bus came into view Fitz and Simmons had lowered the cargo hold, the young scientists were full of nervous energy. They’d already prepped their lab as best they could, luckily they kept O- on board for just such an event but they’d never had to work on one of their own before. Simmons especially knew that her friend’s life was in her hands, a steely resolve settled over the young Brits pretty features.  
May zoomed right up the ramp and stopped the van next to Lola, she was quick to leap out and head for the cockpit. “Wheels up in 2” she shot at FitzSimmons. They nodded at her and she was gone. Ward scooped up Skye she was barely clinging on to consciousness she’d not said anything coherent in the van at all, she was out of it.

“Oh god” Fitz and Simmons said in unison before they started barking orders at the others. Grant laid her down on the steel table and Simmons immediately pushed him out of the way and began working on Skye. Grant looked on helplessly as the young scientist hooked her up to tubes and machines. He was instantly transported back to that lab, the last time Skye’s life had hung in the balance only this time the cavalry may have come too late.

“I’m going to have to transfuse her and try to remove the bullet, it looks like it’s embedded in the bone so she may need surgery” Simmons said to the room at large her tone matter of fact.

“Jemma her sats are dropping” yelled Fitz panicked

“Squeeze the blood in faster Fitz and for goodness sake calm down, we can’t help her if we panic”

Grant moved to the top of the table pulling up a chair, he began to stroke her hair and for the first time in a long time he prayed to the universe. He’d come too far to lose her now “Come on rookie we’re nearly there now, just hold on”. A fat tear rolled down his cheek, the young scientists were shocked they’d never seen the big, bad Agent Ward so vulnerable. Simmons patted his shoulder “She’ll be OK Agent Ward, her injuries aren't life threatening. Once we get her blood topped up and that leg fixed she’ll be good as new. She’s lost a lot of blood it’s true, but you got her here in time. See her blood pressure is coming back up and she’s breathing on her own, all excellent signs” her smile was a reassuring one but Ward would not, could not relax till he knew she was out of the woods.

“Jemma’s right mate” Fitz chimed in.

Grant just continued his stroking of her long chestnut waves. Coulson who no-one in all the excitement had noticed slip away, popped his head round the lab door. “How’s she doing Simmons?”

“She’ll be OK sir, but we really need to get her to a proper hospital stat. She’ll need a surgeon to remove the bullet it seems to be imbedded in her femur”

Coulson winced at that “Well May says we’ll be there in 20 luckily we aren't too far away from the nearest S.H.I.E.L.D facility” Simmons nodded.

“Agent Ward as soon as Skye’s out of the woods we need to talk about what happened”

“Yes Sir” he mumbled too concerned about his rookie to muster anything else up. Coulson nodded and left to check on May.

∞

It was the early hours of the morning when Agent Coulson decided it was time he had a little chat with Ward. They were both sat in the surgical waiting room at one of S.H.I.E.L.D.S secret facilities.

“Do you have any idea how they found you?” he shot at Ward.

“No Sir”

“Did either of you use any cell phones or laptops?”

“No you guys took all of that before we even got to the cabin and before you ask, no Skye didn't get any by you. She knew the risks”

“It wouldn't be the first time she’d disobeyed a direct order” Coulson pointed out but there was no accusation in his tone. “Look I don’t believe that Skye would put either of you in danger, but I have to ask. This was a top secret location there was no way for them to find you unless they could hack into your tech or...” Coulson paused staring into space.

“Or someone leaked our location” ward finished.

“Yes that is looking like a possibility”

“Well it wasn't Me and it sure as hell wasn't Skye, after what that freak tried to do to her there’s no way she’d want to be anywhere near him” without realising it Grant had jumped out of his seat and was towering over his superior.

“Calm down Ward no-one thinks either of you are responsible for the leak, but I have to ask these questions”

Grant slumped back down into his seat “I'm sorry sir, I’m just on edge this is the second time in a week I nearly lost her” his tone dejected.

“It’s not your fault Grant” Coulson’s tone was full of sympathy.

“But it’s my job to protect her and I've fucked it up twice now”

“Don’t take that kind of guilt onto yourself Grant, it solves nothing. Yes Skye has been in danger a lot just recently and this time she got shot but you got her too us. She’s alive because you did everything right, stop looking at the negative and focus on the positive. I know Skye well enough to know that she would never blame you, you didn’t hold that knife and you didn't shoot her” all perfectly reasonable comments but Ward still couldn't shake the sickly feeling in the pit of his stomach.

“Who knew our location?” he asked deflecting.

“Well Me and May, Hill, Fury and a select few agents all with Level 7 and above clearance”

“Could anyone have hacked the servers? The rising tide?”

“Doubtful, there’s no indication of a breech. That and your location was classed above top secret, it wasn't stored on the system”

“So we have a double agent?” growled Ward

“It’s starting to look that way. If that’s the case then we have a big problem our adversary seems to have developed an unhealthy interest in Skye. Could be that he’s pissed at you both for releasing his victims or test subjects as he calls them but the lengths he’s prepared to go, to get to her seem too extreme for that.” reasoned Coulson.

“If he could get to her in the middle of nowhere with no tech or gps to hack how the hell are we supposed to hide her?”

“We can’t, there’s no playing defence anymore Ward. We have no option but to take him out, Fury will have to make do with the info we can pull from his labs servers.”

“Will Fury go for that, he was pretty serious about questioning the guy on project X” Grants tone took on a bitter edge, he knew full well that it would not be the first time S.H.I.E.L.D had sacrificed an agent for the greater good as they called it. It used to be that he believed in that, but now that it was Skye they would likely want to use as bait, everything he'd once put his trust in was blown to hell. He would not allow her to be used like a toy by anyone, Fury could suck it. This guy was pure evil he tortured women for the hell of it; he was a sadistic killer even if the mutations he carried out on his victims held. Which they rarely did, the result was not pretty. He shuddered at the thought; he and Skye had managed to free his latest batch of lab rats but how many innocent women had he destroyed. The guy brought new meaning to the word mad scientist, he didn't even think Loki was this deranged.

“At this point I don’t care what Fury wants, I will not sacrifice a member of my team just so he can have a chit chat with Dr Hyde” there was a steely resolve in his tone.

“Then it’s settled, I’ll take the mother fucker out as soon as I know Skye’s safe” he rethought that “or at least as safe as she can be with a rat lurking in the background”.

The agents ceased their conversation as Skye’s surgeon pushed open the doors to the waiting area. Both men stood, both tense with worry and unease. “The surgery went well” the doctor smiled “We were able to remove the bullet from her femur and repair her artery, she’s not going to be mobile for a while and she’ll need physio and plenty of rest to fully recover. She’s awake and in recovery if you want to see her quickly”

“Thank you doctor, I think Agent Ward will take you up on that offer but I have to get back to the Bus” The doctor nodded and left. “Ward we’ll talk more about this tomorrow”

Ward nodded, for the first time since they had been discovered Grant let himself relax just a little. Skye was going to be OK physically at least “Thank God” he whispered. 

Coulson paused at the door “You love her don’t you Ward?” his face nor his tone gave anything away.

“Yes” he answered no hesitation, no doubt “I know it’s against regulation sir but I do” his tone was pleading.

Coulson nodded “I knew there was something there, there has been for a while. It happens Ward look at Barton and Romanoff. If you’re worried about me turning you in for it, don’t. I’m not; I’m just going to say this. Make sure you don’t let it affect you work, either of your work the minute it does I’ll split you up. Understood” his voice was level but he was deadly serious.

“Understood, Sounds like you've been where I am”

“That information is classified” he winked and smiled and with that he was gone. Not the best time to have that conversation but it had gone better than he could have hoped. His elation was short lived as he remembered the events of the night, his blood boiled when he realised that somewhere in S.H.I.E.L.D there was a traitor someone had sold them out. He hoped to God that Coulson had kept their current location a secret as he found his way to Skye’s bedside. Tomorrow he was going to kick some serious ass, but for right now he needed to be with her, to see for himself that she was OK.


	4. The Ward

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After Skye's brush with death they both have to come to terms with what has happened and what needs to be done.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi Everyone
> 
> Thankyou for the continued support and kudos I can't tell you how much it means, this is a shorter chapter with a little less action but we are building to the main confrontation in the next chapter expect some serious ass kicking from Ward and lots of drama.

She opened her eyes slowly, her lids like lead. She feels like she’s been asleep for years, where is she? The last thing she remembers she was running through the woods, Grant was with her. They were running for their lives and then she thinks really hard trying to dispel the fog around her memory, Oh good I was shot! As if to reinforce the memory her right leg throbs painfully, she pushes herself up to a sitting position slowly and with great difficulty. Examining her injured leg closely she takes in the cast that runs from just below her hip all the way to her toes. Well that’s just perfect; her attention turns to the cold and sterile room. She’s seen a room like this before when Ward was injured on a mission; she must be in one of S.H.I.E.L.D.S field hospitals.

All of a sudden her thoughts snap to Grant, where is he? Is he OK? Was he hurt too? Just as panic starts to take hold of her a nurse pushes open the door to her room, she’s followed by a very tired and stoic looking Ward.   
“You have a visitor Miss Skye” her voice is light and friendly as she indicates the 6”4 wall of muscle beside her. It looks like Grant’s made quite an impression on her by the way she’s blushing. “I’ll leave you two alone but if you need anything just buzz” she smiles at them both and then she’s gone.

As soon as they are alone she musters her best smile trying to reassure him. He rushes to her side cupping her face before bringing his lips to hers in a breath taking kiss. He kisses her like he’d lost her, it squeezes her heart. She can feel his heartache and fear, a desperate need comes over her to reassure him, she needs to make it better. When they finally break apart her head swims, she’d like to think it was just the affect of Grants toe curling kiss but she can feel the fuzzy haze at the edges of her brain that only comes from morphine.

“Are you OK?” she asks him.

“You got shot and your asking me if I’m OK?” his tone incredulous.

“Well yeah, I guess I blacked out cause I don’t remember anything after the bullet hit. I just woke up in here and I didn’t know if you were Ok or if you were hurt or...” she didn’t finish that thought it was too painful to even think it let alone say it.

“Don’t worry about me baby I’m fine, did the doctors not tell you anything?” she knew he was deflecting; it’s what he always did when faced with painful emotions. She’d have to drag it out of him as always.

“Well I kinda just woke up, so I guess they didn’t get chance” she laughed it was a nervous little sound. Given the look on his face she thought maybe she didn’t want to know but Skye was no coward and she never shied away from answers. “Can you tell me?”  
“Well the bullet pierced your femoral artery; you lost a lot of blood. So Simmons had to transfuse you on the bus until we could get you here. The docs had to operate to remove the bullet from your femur and repair the artery, they had to give you more blood hear as well” she took in the drip she was attached to they were still transfusing her now, she shuddered. That can’t have been good.

“How did I get back to the bus?” she asked to distract herself.

“I carried you back to the road; Coulson and May were waiting at the extraction point. I didn’t realise how bad it was till then, not till I saw Couslon’s face” his voice shook. She reached out her hand and stroked his cheek.

“It’s OK Grant, I told you, you do a damn good job of saving my ass. I’m guessing if it weren’t for you and the team I’d be a goner” she joked.

“I thought I was too late, you were so pale and you went into shock. There was too much blood and...”

“Shhhh I’m fine apart from this damn cast, don’t even think about blaming yourself or I will hit you invalid or not” she was almost her snarky old self. He couldn’t help but chuckle at that.

“You really scared me for a minute; I really thought I was going to lose you this time.”

“But you didn’t, I knew the risks when I signed on to become an agent. It really sucks that I seem to be a magnet for disaster but you can’t blame yourself for every bad thing that happens to me. You can’t take that kind of guilt on, with the amount of dumb crap I pull you’ll end up with a permanent monkey on your back”

“It’s funny Coulson said something similar when we were waiting for you to get out of surgery. He wasn’t quite as colourful but yeah...”

“Well you should listen to AC he’s pretty cool and wise that way” she laughed.

“Yeah he is, surprisingly cool” he gave her the first real smile she’d seen since a rather steamy shower they’d shared that morning.  
“By the way, Coulson knows?”

“About us?” she was nervous now, field agents were not supposed to fraternize let alone date.

“Don’t look so worried, you said yourself he’s cool” he gave her a reassuring smile before relating his late night conversation with Coulson.

“So he’s OK with us?” she couldn’t quite believe it.

“He said it happens, so long as we don’t let it affect our work he won’t turn us in to the review board”

“Oh well that’s one good thing” she smiled and this one touched her eyes. It shouldn’t have been her biggest worry at that moment with everything that they were facing, but having AC on board was a big relief.

“So what do we do now? Go back into hiding?” she didn’t like that idea it hadn’t worked out to well last time. It was still bugging her how the psycho had found them but if Grant knew he wasn’wasn't saying. It was so like him the eternal protector, he obviously didn’t want her to worry but surely he knew she’d get the information she wanted one way or another.

“No, Coulson and I agreed we can’t play defence anymore. We have to take him out” Grants tone was deadly.

“Do you mean we as in the team or do you mean we as in you?” he didn’t answer her.

“Grant No!!” she shrieked. “You can’t he nearly killed us both the last time we went after him and that was the whole team you can’t go alone” her voice was thick with tears.

“You know I have to Skye, not just because he hurt you but because he won’t stop. He’s not going to stop till he gets hold of you again. He was never going to kill you that knife trick was just a game to him. The bullet was meant for me not you, he’s obsessed with you. I don’t know why neither does Coulson, you’re not his usual type. If I don’t take him out then he’ll find you again” he was imploring her to understand. He never intended to tell her that but she had to understand. This wasn’t about revenge for what they’d done this was about a sociopaths obsession and she was his target.

His words seeped into her like poison, all this time she’d thought it was both of them he wanted. Never had she imagined that she would find herself in such a dark place. The walls seem to close in around her. Sensing her fear Grant cupped her face “It’s going to be OK Skye, Coulson and I we are going to put a plan together tomorrow. I’m going to fix this he won’t get to you again”

Her thoughts flicked to that locked box in her mind, the one that held the horrific details of that mission. She’d told Grant that in her nightmares she relived her near miss with the psycho but that was only partly true. She saw the torture chamber, the evil looking medical equipment, the terrified women in cages cowering. Her imagination went wild she saw their faces twisted in pain, heard their screams and cry’s, heard them beg for death. Finally she saw their lifeless eyes, when their bodies could take no more of his experiments. In the day when she was wrapped up in Grant she could lock it all away, pretend it never happened but at night and now here in this room she was at the mercy of her subconscious. The images flashed before her eyes on repeat like a film that just keeps running only this time it wasn’t some nameless faceless woman at his mercy it was Skye.

Silent tears streamed down her face as she locked eyes with Grant “Why Me?” it was barely a whisper.

“I don’t know, Coulson thought that he was taking this too far for it just to be revenge. They are digging but so far nothing has come up. Skye there’s something else...”

“What? How could this be any worse?” her voice was thick with tears and panic.

Ward’s face looked down right murderous, god it had to be bad “It looks like he has an Implant inside S.H.I.E.L.D, we had no tech or GPS for them to hack and S.H.I.E.L.DS servers were not breached the only way he could have learned of our location is from one of the agents that was entrusted with it. Coulson and I will be interrogating them all tomorrow”

Skye gasped “Why would anyone do that? They all know what he is, what he does”

“If I had to guess either he has something on them or money” he spat, she could tell he was taking this just as hard as she was.

“When can I get out of here?” she felt like a sitting duck here if he’d managed to bribe one of the top agents at S.H.I.E.L.D HQ she was sure it would be a piece of cake to scare one of the medical staff. As if he’d read her thoughts Grant said “As soon as the doctor clears you, we’ll get back to the Bus. Simmons should be able to keep an eye on you and I’ll feel better if May and Coulson are around to back me up”

“Grant I still don’t want you to go, it’s too dangerous I don’t want you risking your life for me” she was pleading now.

“If not for you, who for?” he smiled at her, her favourite smile the one that exposed his perfect dimples. It was brief but she knew, he knew she couldn’couldn't resist that damn smile “It has to be me, he has to die. I should have killed him that first night, to hell with Fury’s orders as soon as I saw what he truly was I should have taken him down. If I had we wouldn’t be here now”

“Grant...”

“I know it’s not my fault, but I still have to put it right.” that tone meant end of discussion, there was no reasoning with him now. All she could do was pray that he came back to her, she was terrified of that room, those cages but she knew she would take every torture he could visit on her so long as Grant was safe. “I love you” she whispered.

“I love you too” he said pressing a gentle kiss to her temple and then to her lips. “I know it’s the last thing you want to do, but you need to rest up. Tomorrow’s going to be a hard day, you’ll need your strength” he was right it was the last thing she wanted but she could feel her body betraying her it was greedily pulling her back into sleep. Her lids were heavy again and she couldn’couldn't stifle her yawn “Will you stay with me?”

“I didn’t plan on leaving” he pulled the chair he was sat in closer to the bed and began to stroke her silky hair. She hummed at the intimate gesture she loved when he played with her hair it was one of the many ways he made her feel safe. She couldn’t deny she was terrified of what the future held for them, their path was full of shadow and danger but one thing she did know. Whatever the psycho threw at them they would get through together, so long as Grant was with her she knew she was safe.

Slowly her breaths began to slow and her eyelids fluttered shut, he rested his head next to hers on the pillow still stroking her hair. There was no doubting their situation right now was hell, his worst nightmares come to pass but he would make it right. He would keep her safe and what’s more even though he shouldn’t he knew he’d take great pleasure in it. He wasn’t going to think about what that said about him right now that was a debate for another day.


	5. The Secret

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Secrets about Skye's past come to light but will the team tell her and what does it mean for the future.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So chapter 5 can you believe it, I hope you like this we are getting to a big confrontation but when I started writing this is where the story took me. I think I needed to build Skye’s back story before we meet our evil Dr Hyde. There isn’t much Skye/Ward in this chapter but there is slight Philinda . I will try and get the next chapter up ASAP but good action takes longer to write. As always I don’t own Agents or its characters they all belong to Marvel. Thank you for all your reviews and likes they make me smile and inspire me to keep writing.

It had been a week since Grant and Skye had returned to the bus, Wards desire for vengeance had not cooled but Coulson had managed to talk him into holding off until they had more intel. Dr Hyde as the team had come to call their adversary had gone to ground after his attack on Skye but they were certain it would not be long until he tried his luck again.

Skye was healing remarkably well, in fact Simmons had informed her that she should be able to remove the cast in a few days. They young scientist although happy that her friend was healing fast was absolutely dismayed that injury should have taken months to heal not days! She could not explain it, as clever as she and Fitz were neither of them could come up with an answer it was an ordinary 9mm round that had pierced Skye’s leg and as far as they were aware no-one on earth was in possession of anything that could heal a human so fast. So Simmons had insisted on numerous tests much to Skye’s annoyance. It was upon examining Skye’s bloods that Simmons found something very odd indeed.

Fitz had set Skye up in the lab with her laptop and a comfy chair so that she could keep herself occupied whilst she recovered. She had lasted a whole two days in her bunk, before boredom overtook her. She’d never been idle, come to think of it she’d never been ill before that she remembered anyway, so bed rest was a foreign concept to her. Despite Wards objections and insistence that she needed rest to recover Skye had managed to convince Coulson that she was much more use to the team gathering intel on her attackers than holed up in her bunk. Grant was not impressed with her but he would just have to get over it, she was not going to sit back and play damsel in distress while he rushed off on a suicide mission. If he were going to do this then she was going to make sure that he had as much info as she could get him. Out of the corner of her eye she could see Simmons pacing the lab “What’s up Jemma?” she asked.

“Oh nothing really” she tried to sound nonchalant and failed.

“Jemma?” Skye was on to her.

“I don’t suppose you could dig up your old medical records? They aren’t on our servers since you wiped yourself from the system”

“Sure why do you need them?”

“Oh it’s nothing really, some of your blood results look a tad odd and I just wanted to compare them to old tests. I’m sure it’s just an anomaly but it could just be normal for you.”

“There on my memory card I’ll send them over” her blood being a little weird was the least of her worries right now between vengeful Ward and Dr Hyde she didn’t have head space for this. She fished the memory card that carried all her personal information out of her bra, old habits die hard and sent over her medical records to Simmons tablet.

Simmons scanned the very short file “Skye have you ever seen a doctor before you were shot?”

“I don’t get ill” she responded simply.

“What never?” incredulity clouded Simmons tone.

“Nope”

“So you’ve never been ill? Never had a cold or stomach bug?!”

“Not that I remember, guess I’m super immune” she smiled at Jemma until she took in the young Brits expression and then her face fell.

“Is that not good” she asked her voice unsure.

“Well it’s highly unusual, and there is no record of you ever having any bloods or routine tests done before last week! Not even a heel stick as a baby, no vaccination. As a ward of the state I would have expected you to have had a yearly check up”

“Well St Agnes weren’t really up on those things, the nuns only called a doctor if one of us was sick” Skye reasoned. “Is there something wrong with me?” she was worried now.

Jemma rearranged her face into a bright smile “No your absolutely fine, I’m sure that this is just an anomaly perhaps theirs a fault with my equipment. Let’s take another sample”

Skye groaned “Not another”.

“Don’t be such a baby Skye it’s only a needle and since you’ve been shot in the last week this should be nothing” her brisk business like manner had returned. She must have just been seeing things, because what she had seen had been impossible.  
______________________________________________________________________

A few hours later when Ward had carried Skye to bed Simmons resumed pacing her lab this time with Fitz for company. “Are you sure Jemma? You’ve been under a lot of stress maybe it’s getting to you”

“Fitz I am not wrong about this, I have checked and rechecked every sample” she snapped.

“Do you think she knows?”

“No I don’t think she has a clue, She has no idea who her parents where or what happened to them. If they died when she was very young it’s likely she was never told.”

“Do you think Coulson knows?”

“I don’t know but I have to tell him, it all makes perfect sense now” she was wringing her hands a nervous habit she’d had since her childhood.

“When?” in answer to his question Agent Coulson came into the lab.

“You needed to see me Simmons?” he shot at Jemma his tone light and friendly.

“Yes Sir, It’s about Skye” she began.

“Did you find the cause of her accelerated healing?”

“I think so...”

“Well”

“This is going to sound insane but here me out; I’ve checked and rechecked all her bloods. Skye is a Hybrid half of her genetic code is human but the other half...” she swallowed “Is Alien”

“Are you sure about this?” his tone was serious.

“There’s no doubt Sir, her elevated healing comes from her Alien side. Her fracture is almost completely healed it should have taken 6 months not 6 days!”

“Is there any possibility that our friend Dr Hyde could have done this to her? Perhaps the blood she received at the hospital was tainted with that damn Serum” he reasoned.

“No Sir, for her genetic code to be this balanced her mutation would have to come from one of her parents. Dr Hyde’s Serum does not mutate cells effectively which is why the women who were given it either died or developed horrible complications, even if it did work it wouldn’t cause what I’m seeing here.” she was certain or she never would have brought this to Coulson.

“Have you told Skye yet?”

“No Sir”

“Don’t”

“But Sir, she deserves to know she’s our friend we shouldn’t keep this from her” Fitz chimed in.

“We will and we have to at least for now until we are certain that your results are correct”

“But this would explain why he wants Skye; she is the only true living Hybrid that we know of. If he knows that too he could reverse engineer a successful Serum from her...”

Coulson cut her off “We will not Inform Skye or anyone else of this until we have solid proof, is that clear!” she’d only heard that tone once before when she’d jumped ship literally, to save her team mates from an alien pathogen.

“Yes Sir” the two scientists said in unison, dejected neither of them was happy with this it felt like a betrayal and they were sure Skye would see it as just that.

“I know this seems unfair but we keep secrets at S.H.I.E.L.D for a reason, it’s not just Dr Hyde that will want Skye she’s in more danger than either of you realise, and for now the less she knows the better” he turned to leave.

“Sir did you know about this?” Simmons voice was a whisper of disbelief.

“That’s classified Jemma” and with that he headed for his office

The two shared a worried look, something was very wrong here they could feel it.  
______________________________________________________________________

“They know don’t they?” May was waiting for Coulson in his office. He sighed heavily.

“Yes they know” he sounded ten years old as he rubbed his tense forehead.

“Do you not think now may be the time to come clean, Phil” he knew she was serious she never called him Phil unless she was.

“We can’t Melinda; I promised her father I’d keep her safe. If she knew the truth if we trigger her memories her abilities will surface as well. If the world knew what she was she’d be in more danger than ever”

“You know she’ll never forgive you if she finds out another way, if he gets hold of her if he knows what we think he does. He will tell her, she’ll see it as a betrayal” Her voice was level her face giving nothing away as always. Damn her she was always right but he couldn’t his brother had removed her memories for a good reason binding her abilities in the process. There was no worse pain than knowing that someone you loved your own brother would die and there was nothing you could do about it. The only help he’d been able to offer was to get his niece to safety. So many times he’d come close to telling her the truth when she’d hugged him for relaying a very limited fact about the redacted S.H.I.E.L.D file. It was on the tip of his tongue then but the memory of her mother and fathers lifeless bodies hit him like a sledgehammer. He had bitten it back it didn’t matter if she hated him for the rest of her days as long as she was safe.

“We can’t” he simply said.

“Do you honestly think that Fitz and Simmons will keep this to themselves?” May didn’t seem to think they could.

“For all our sakes, I hope so.”

“And Ward?”

“Ward can’t know, he’d never be able to keep this from her not now. Things between them have changed Melinda we can’t trust his judgement on this.”

“He’s desperate to take out Hyde, you won’t be able to hold him off much longer and if we don’t back him up, he will go off book.”

“I know” he rubbed his eyes with the heels of his hands “I know”.

“We are going to have to take Hyde out sooner rather than later, if we are right about why he wants her who knows who else he could have told. We need answers if we’re going to protect her Phil.”

“I know, I’ll contact Fury we’ll redouble our efforts to find him. We cannot allow Ward to do this alone, we have to go in with him this has to end now” May nodded  
.  
“You know you can’t hide this from her forever, she’s going to find out eventually”

“I can try” he shook his head he knew she was right she was always right.   
She rolled her eyes stubborn as always, this would end in tears she could feel it.


	6. The File

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An old contact sends Skye a file that will change her world forever, Grant is determined to get to the bottom of all the weirdness that's been going on around him since he and Skye returned. When secrets come to light what will this mean for the team and will they ever recover.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Authors Note: Hi Guys, sorry this has taken longer than I thought to get up. I can see this being a 10 chapter story; we are going to the dark side now this is going to get gritty. My favourite quote from Jennifer L Armentrout “Never trust anyone in a game where everyone has something to gain or lose”. I have to say I have been inspired by the Lux and Arum Series and probably Fringe as well. Thank you all for your continued support.

Something was off; Grant Ward could sense it he had left Skye sleeping soundly in his bunk. She needed sleep, usually her presence soothed him but sleep evaded him that night so he slipped away to the training area. This was where he exorcised all his demons and processed his thoughts, he jabbed at the bag with serious venom his muscles burning with the effort.

Ever since he and Skye had returned to the bus things had been weird to say the least. He’d been eager to end this to take out Dr Hyde, he needed to do it not only to keep Skye safe but to make him pay for even daring to hurt her in the first place. Coulson had talked him down from such a rash decision reasoning that he at least needed to know where the freak was. He’d gone to ground since his last attempt to kidnap Skye but Grant knew it wouldn’t be long until he tried it again. Coulson had put in a call to Fury and pulled in some favours from other agencies in an attempt to track him down but it was becoming very obvious to him that they would only find this guy when he wanted them to. That rankled him greatly he didn’t like being on the back foot especially when it came to protecting her.

There was the other problem Skye, it had only been 8 days since she’d been shot and yet Simmons had been able to remove her cast claiming her fractures had healed fully! How the fuck was that even possible her surgeon had told him it would be at least 6 months before she was fully healed. That she would need Physio and be on crutches for months, yet if their interactions earlier that evening were anything to go by that seemed to be bull. She was walking around like nothing had happened; he’d taken the liberty of inspecting her injured leg personally while she quipped about playing doctor. She didn’t even wince and the scars that should have been an angry raised red where now faded pink lines. He’d seen a lot in his time with S.H.I.E.L.D but this? This was just wrong it wasn’t possible. When he’d cornered Simmons in the lab to say as much she’d brushed him off like he was an idiot and shooed him out of the lab. Fitz looked like he was about to have a heart attack when Grant approached him next and made a very fast escape back to Simmons. Weird...They had to be hiding something from him but what and why? He was part of the team there was no reason to keep things from him, unless...but no surely not. He pushed the thought away Skye was his rookie his responsibility surely they were not keeping anything important from him. They all wanted to keep her safe; the three of them were close.

Coulson on the other hand he was definitely keeping something from him, he was his usual cheery self around everyone. Everyone except May, he’d caught them swapping concerned glances at Skye more often than was necessary it was actually May that set him on edge because it was so out of character. They would disappear up to Coulson’s office for “meetings” if he didn’t know better he’d think they were a thing now. He shook himself mentally god he was becoming paranoid, maybe some of his lovers characteristics were starting to rub off on him. There was only one way to sort all this out he had to confront Coulson. If he had intel he was not sharing Grant would have to get it out of him, he briefly entertained the idea of sticking his superior with that damn truth Serum but that was probably taking it a little too far.

All of a sudden he ceased his attack of the punch bag, when had this happened? When had he become so suspicious and apathetic towards an organisation that had once been the centre of his universe? He’d trusted his gut his whole life it had never steered him wrong before, something was wrong, Coulson was hiding something from him. He was resolved he’d promised Coulson that his feeling for Skye would not affect his work but right now she was his work. That’s what he did wasn’t it? he protected people from the bad guys, it was that simple. If S.H.I.E.L.D were the good guys like he’d always believed they were then they shouldn’t stand in his way. He relaxed a little at this thought yes this was how he’d look at this, this made sense to him.

All of a sudden he was struck by a very dark thought one that brought bile to his throat and made his stomach clench. They still did not know who had sold them out to Hyde but it had to be someone within S.H.I.E.L.D itself. Skye had combed through the severs looking for any sign of a breech but had come up empty and the girl was a genius when it came to hacking and sticking her nose where it shouldn’t be. Coulson and Fury had rigorously interrogated all the agents in on their previous location but had come up empty. Ward had been banned from attending by Fury himself being told in no uncertain terms that if he violated this order he’d find himself chained up on the bus. He’d laughed at that he’d like to have seen them try but he was a logical guy he knew that getting himself in shit would be no help to Skye. Still there was a rat out there unaccounted for most likely at the top of the organization. This was downright scary and infuriating in equal measure, he swung his fist into the back with alarming force. His rage was such that he felt like he could go toe to toe with Thor right now.

He was going to get to the bottom of this, God help the rat because he now had two targets on his list. He’d not felt this dark since his childhood, since he’d first felt rage seep into him like poison colouring his vision red. He’d spent years learning to suppress his darker impulses and now it was all about to come undone. The only thing that kept the darkness from overtaking him completely was the beautiful brunette sleeping peacefully in his bed upstairs. She had replaced S.H.I.E.L.D as the centre of his universe, she was full of light and life and he was drawn to her like she was his own personal sun. She was not polluted like he was; she was much stronger than he could ever hope to be. At first he’d been mad when he thought she’d betrayed them for her ex but now he saw what he could not see then. Skye saw the best in people, she was fuelled by her desire to do what she thought was right without regard for herself. All he could see back then was the recklessness behind her actions, he knew now that had she known what Miles was then she would have come to him. But while there was still a chance that he was a good guy that had made a mistake she’d had to help him to warn him. He still didn’t like it but he could respect that, now he knew her better her big heart was one of the things he loved most about her.

He just hoped that after he did what he had to do, she would still see the good in him. Ward took one more swing at the bag before he made his way back to his bunk; all of a sudden he needed to be near her. He slipped quietly back in to bed, she stirred but she did not wake. As he settled her head found his chest, he wrapped his arms around her drinking in her light, her warm and very slowly a different darkness claimed him.

****************************************************************************************************

The next day he found himself at Coulson’s door, Skye was set up in the lab with Fitz and Simmons, May was on the stick. He raised his hand and gave a brisk knock, steeling himself for what could be a very heated conversation.

“Come In” came Coulson’s friendly voice. He looked like he’d had as much sleep as he had; his desk was strewn with files and reports that he was hastening to put away when Ward entered.

“What can I do for you Agent Ward” always so polite, the mood that he was in this actually ticked him off. He’d been on edge for so long that his limited people skills were fast becoming non-existent.

“We need to talk Sir” he kept his voice level.

“About What?” the older agent sounded wary.

“About what the hell is going on around here at the moment” he really had to work not to let his frustration seep into his voice.

“And what exactly do you think is going on Ward?” there was warning in his tone.

“Well for a start Skye’s miraculous recovery from an injury that should have had her laid up for a good 6 months. A little weird don’t you think? I know we deal with some crazy shit around here but surely you all realise that that is not normal. Every time I try and talk to FitzSimmons about it they damn near jump out of their skins looking like I caught them with their hands in the cookie jar! Surely we should be looking into this” he couldn’t keep the frustration from his voice this time. 

“Grant I understand you’re worried about Skye and we are looking into that. Simmons has checked all of Skye’s vitals, the poor girl has run every test in the book and she’s come up empty. Perhaps the reason that she and Fitz are so jumpy is because they are tired from all the extra hours they’ve been putting in to this. It’s not just you that’s concerned about Skye’s well being. I’ll admit that this is all a little strange but Skye is perfectly fine, her leg is healed all things considered whatever the reason I’d say it was a blessing. The girl couldn’t hack bed rest for more than 2 days what do you think she’d have been like after 6 months! She’d have driven herself mad and all of us with her. We will continue to look into it but it’s not top priority at the moment” Coulson had always been good with words, its part of what made him a good leader. Grant would have felt bad if it weren’t for the fact that a slight tick in his face had given the older agent away. He was lying but why? He didn’t push it at this point he wanted to get to his more pressing issue but he would revisit this later.

“I guess that’s a fair point” he swallowed.

“Will that be all?” Coulson shot at him.

“No, I wanted to check where we are with finding out Dr Hyde’s location” his tone was all business now. He was Agent Ward now not Grant Ward concerned boyfriend.

“Well I’m afraid I can’t really give you any more information than I already have, it’s like he just disappeared we have a worldwide arrest warrant out for him. The DOD, NSA, CIA along with S.H.I.E.L.D and Interpol have been searching for him, we’ve used every facial recognition software we have but so far nothing” Coulson sounded as frustrated as Ward felt.

“He has to be somewhere!”

“Agent Ward it is becoming painfully obvious that that man is not going to be found unless he wants to be. He is extremely intelligent and ruthless a terrifying combination I doubt even Romanoff would be able to track him down. He will make himself known to us and when he does I don’t want you running off playing the hero” he took in Wards murderous glare. “Grant I know you want to take this guy down and I agree that is the only thing to be done but like I told you before we need to be smart about it”

“I can handle myself”

“Which is one of the reasons I wanted you on my team but Grant think? What do you suppose Skye will do if you are captured?”

Ward groaned he knew precisely what his impulsive and reckless rookie would do; she’d high tail it straight after him.

“Exactly, she would come straight after you. Which is exactly what he will expect, do not under estimate him. He knows you and he knows her, if he has an implant he will have all the information he needs to trap you drawing her to him. We have to be smart about this he’s always been one step ahead of us, we cannot afford for him to get the better of us again!” Coulson rubbed his tired eyes “When he makes his move May and I will be there to back you up” his tone brooked no argument.

“What about our rat problem?”

“Fury and I interviewed everyone who knew your location but whoever this person is, they covered their tracks well. There is no evidence linking a S.H.I.E.L.D agent with the leak. We even had Skye search the system but she came up with nothing, If it were there she would have found it” he was convincing Ward gave him that but his gut was nagging him. Coulson knew more than he was letting on he could feel it, he supposed they thought him a liability. This pissed him off no end but Coulson was right they had to play it smart and so did he. If he wanted to find out what his superior knew he’d have to play the long game, he knew Skye would help but he really didn’t want to involve her in this. He wanted Skye as far away from this as possible.

“I’m really not happy about any of this Sir”

“Trust the system agent Ward” 

Great he was giving him the company line; ward laughed but there was no humour in it. He had trusted the system, he trusted it his whole life and look where it got him. He got up and left Coulson had shut him down he was getting nothing today.

May crept in as soon as Ward was out of sight. She took in Coulsons exhausted and dishevelled appearance. “He looked pissed” she stated.

“That’s because he is pissed, he didn’t believe me. We’re running out of time Melinda.” his voice was strained.

“There’s an easy answer to all this you know” her voice was soft but it gave nothing away.

“Easy? There’s no easy way out of this. Whatever I do she’s in danger even if we find him before he gets to her again. He won’t be the only one, while her abilities are bound she’s not a threat but if she’s activated that all changes. I thought if I brought her onto the bus, trained her up as an agent that we could protect her and now I think it may be the biggest mistake I ever made. I keep thinking what would Will do? But I’m coming up empty” for the first time in a long time he felt exposed, vulnerable even. May walked over and placed a hand on his shoulder.

“She has to know, it’s the only way to keep her safe. We can teach her to control her alien side to hide it.” always the voice of reason.

“She’s not ready for this May”

“Will she ever be?”

He shook his head he knew there would never be a right time to bring this up. He could deal with the fall out, deal with her hating him but he couldn’t deal with losing another member of his family. If he told her now she would bolt, she’d leave the safety of the plane and who knew if Ward would follow her. The young agent loved his niece but did he love her enough to give up S.H.I.E.L.D for her and even if he did would she let him? Alone in the world Hyde would pick her up in hours and then what? FitzSimmons had been right she’d become a living lab experiment her parents greatest fear would be realised. He wouldn’t allow that, he couldn’t some secrets had to be kept and this was one of them.

“No Melinda but we can’t tell her now, not while she’s in danger. Once we’ve dealt with Hyde we can look at telling her then. She has to know but not right now” he reasoned.

****************************************************************************************************

It had been a day like any other for Skye, she’d been happily surfing and hacking away on her laptop while FitzSimmons whizzed around the lab behind her. Her leg was fully healed which granted was weird but she wasn’t complaining. Her thoughts flicked to the night before and she smiled to herself, no she definitely wasn’t complaining. She’d missed being connected to Grant in that way and since she’d been out of action for just over a week they had both enjoyed making up for lost time.

Sure Grant had a bug up his ass today but she knew it was nothing to do with her, he was professional as always around the others but when he thought they weren’t looking...well that was a different matter. Sure there was a psycho after her for unknown reasons but he had dropped off the face of the earth, she was back with her team and had full use of her leg again. All in all she was in a very good mood and then one email changed it all.

It popped into her personal box just after dinner, an email from Miles Lydon. God that guy had nerve Grant would not be happy about this but the title IMPORTANT caught her eye. Miles might be a sell out and an ass but he’d never hurt her before so she opened it and then her jaw dropped. She stared at the email and then the attachment, she tried to absorb what she was seeing but her brain just could not process it.

“Skye what’s wrong?” Fitz had noticed his friend staring at her computer screen, she was frozen her face filled with despair and hurt? When she didn’t respond Fitz read over her shoulder his eyes widened at what he saw. “Oh Shit”

“I told you they were liars, a contact sent me this. I know you hate me right now and I deserve it but you deserve answers. I got that stupid tracker off; my contact is willing to meet if you need more information than what is in this attachment. He said he knows your full history he was a friend of your dads. I know I screwed up but I still love you I just want to help. He doesn’t trust S.H.I.E.L.D but if you come to our old bar in Austen at noon tomorrow you guys can talk. You need to be alone.

Love You

Miles”

Fitz didn’t see the email but he saw the attachment it was the redacted S.H.I.E.L.D file, only it wasn’t redacted. It was all their in black and white, Fitz placed his hand on Skye’s shoulder as it began to shake. He was lost for words; there was nothing he could say to make this any better. He had known what she was Simmons had needed him to help clarify her suspicions but this? No wonder they hid it from her. His stomach clenched he felt sick, he was not the child everyone thought he was he knew that S.H.I.E.L.D sometimes took targets out but this was brutal.

He saw the change in his friend from shock to sadness to pure rage and hatred. Her eyes were so bright that her normally chocolate coloured irises almost looked blue! Her normally cheery face was twisted with anger, the air around them crackled literally this was not good. He swallowed “Skye you need to calm down, please” he pleaded with her.

“I can’t Fitz, they lied to me. He looked me in the eye and lied to me” she raged.

“I know and I’m...”

“Don’t you dare say you’re sorry” she snapped. The hairs on the back of his neck began to rise, he may know what she was but he didn’t know what that meant. “Skye your hands!” he was staring at her balled up fists. Blue electricity danced along her knuckles, she brought them up to her face palms up and inspected them. This was definitely more than static; all of a sudden a bolt left her hand hitting a very expensive piece of lab equipment obliterating it.

“Dear God” exclaimed Fitz, he backed away from her slowly. “Skye I really think you need to calm down”

Shock temporarily broke through the blue haze that clouded her vision; she looked back at her hands the electricity that had surged over her skin before had settled.

“What in the hell was that?” she shot at Fitz.

“I don’t know” he was flabbergasted “I think I should fetch Coulson” her eyes flashed again at that from chocolate to electric blue he could see the blue licks of electricity return to her palms. OK right now that was a bad call sensing he needed to change tack “OK you probably don’t want to talk to him right now, how about Grant then?” the sudden tension in her face eased at the stoic agents name. “OK stay here and I’ll get him and please try not to blow anything else up”

She nodded her now brown eyes shined with tears “What’s wrong with me Fitz?”

“I may have an idea but right now you need to be with Grant OK, you need to calm down and then we can figure all this out. Who sent you that file?”

“An old friend” it wasn’t a lie just an omission, she felt bad after all it was Coulson that had lied to her not Fitz but she wasn’t giving Miles up. He may have screwed up before but he’d just come through for her when her own uncle? Had not. He nodded not pushing her and went to fetch Ward at high speed.

****************************************************************************************************

Ward was with Coulson in the lounge when Fitz appeared at the top of the stairs breathless from running. “Ward” he shouted.

Ward looked up from some paperwork he was filling out “You need to come to the lab right now!”

“What’s wrong?” he didn’t fail to notice the panic in the young scientists tone.

“It’s Skye, she’s...well you need to see for yourself” Fitz stammered, he was well and truly freaked out. Ward shot up from the couch and made to the stairs to follow Fitz, Coulson trailed behind.

“Sir it may not be a good idea for you to come, she’s well...she’s...”

“She’s what Agent Fitz?” Coulson enquired.

“Well let’s just say that pissed would be an understatement, she knows Sir. She knows what happened to her parents an old friend sent her the unredacted file!” Ward shot Coulson a knowing look, he knew something was off around here and he had a nasty feeling whatever Skye had just discovered was about to rock the bus and not in a good way. He raced down to the lab ahead of the others and what he saw stopped him in his tracks.

She was pacing the lab tears sliding down her cheeks thick and fast, when her eyes met his he saw what must have freaked Fitz out. Her eyes! He raced to her side in an instant. He pulled her into his arms and winced slightly when a strong static shock travelled from her to him, he ignored it.

She started to sob big gut wrenching sobs “Please tell me you didn’t know, tell me he lied to you too” she looked at him her now brown eyes flecked with blue. “I’ve never seen that file Skye I swear on my life, I haven’t” she studied his eyes those strong brown eyes and she knew he was telling her the truth but it didn’t make this betrayal any easier to bear.

“They killed my parents Grant” her voice was thick with emotion.

“Who did?” but even as he asked the question, his heart twisted. In his gut he knew, for the first time in his life he hated his gut.

“S.H.I.E.L.D”


	7. The Hyrid

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In the aftermath of Skye finding out about her parents murders its time for Coulson to come clean.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi Everyone
> 
> Thank you for your continued support, due to the emotional nature of this chapter it's taken a little longer to write.
> 
> Enjoy

They stood in the middle of the lab, just the two of them wisely the others had stayed away. He held her close as she broke apart in his arms her heart shattering. One minute she’d had problems yes, big ones too but she had Grant and her team but now? Her world was crumbling around her, Coulson was her uncle apparently and her parents were dead. Murdered by the very people she was now working for, how the hell was she even supposed to start and deal with that? At first she didn’t cry she just clung to Ward as though he were her life raft, she was numb with shock.

He didn’t know how long they stood like that before grief seeped through her shock. It felt like days but in reality it could only have been minutes. It started with a single tear sliding down her beautiful face before the reality of what she read hit her. Her parents were gone, she would never see them again, never know her mother’s embrace or her father’s laugh. S.H.I.E.L.D had robbed her of that then they had slung her in an orphanage like she was nothing. Miles had been right all they did was lie and keep secrets, that’s all they knew how to do. How many families had they destroyed? How many children were left without parents? How many gifted children had been taken from their homes never to be seen again? More importantly how could her own blood have looked her in the eye and lie to her?

All of a sudden she pushed away her encroaching grief and gave herself over to her anger. He knew, he’d known the minute he took her from her van. She felt the blue haze that had receded begin to creep back again. She pushed away from Grant and turned on her heel but not before he got a look at her eyes.

“Skye your eyes!”

“Why does everyone keep saying that” she snapped.

“Probably because they’ve changed colour!” she didn’t fail to notice the alarm in his voice. “I think we need to get FitzSimmons in here to check you over”

“Grant I don’t need to be checked over, I need answers!” she bit out. Before he could close the distance between them, she’d spun on her heel and was out of the lab doors. It didn’t take a genius to work out where she was going at an impossible speed. He took the stairs to the living area two at a time; the look on her face had been murderous. A part of him didn’t blame her he couldn’t imagine how she must be feeling, the news of what had happened to her parents hadn’t sunk in for him yet but he knew that it would change everything for them both.

“Skye you need to calm down” he heard Coulson reason. When he emerged at the top of the stairs she had her back to him. He instinctively knew that something was wrong, all the hairs on his body began to rise. Then he caught sight of her hands, they were glowing blue? That couldn’t be right.

“Calm down? Calm down? You lied to me, you looked me in the eyes and fucking lied to me!! You’ve been lying to me since I stepped on this damn plane!!! How could you?” her voice broke towards the end of her tirade and the glow around her hands paled.

“Skye it’s not what you think” Ward didn’t think he’d ever heard Coulson panic but he was now.

“Not what I think? Then what the fuck is it Phil or should I say Uncle Phil?” her rage was back with full force. As if from nowhere a bolt of blue lightening smashed into one of the adamantium tumblers on the bar with a thunderous crash. For a moment the whole room was silent, all eyes were on the tumbler as it shattered into a million pieces. Then all eyes were on Skye and they were afraid of her, adamantium was the strongest element on earth and Skye had just turned a tumbler made of it to dust.

“Skye we can talk about this but you really need to calm down before you hurt someone” Coulson was pleading with her now. “Skye we need to put you into the interrogation room while we figure out what’s causing your...erm...outbursts” that was the wrong thing to say, he realised it as soon as the words left his mouth. Her gaze that had been fixed on the bar swung back to him, her usually warm chocolate brown eyes were now a hard, cold electric blue. “You. Are. Not. Locking. Me. Up.” she emphasised every word her tone deadly.

“Sir, I really think you need to try not to upset her, her abilities seem to be connected to her emotions” Fitz chimed in nervously.

“Wait, What? You told me she was fine, that there was nothing wrong with her!” this time it was Ward that was pissed.

“Agent Coulson told us not to say anything until he was certain Simmons results were correct. We wanted to tell Skye but he said that we could end up putting her in danger” the young scientist stammered.

“What’s wrong with me Fitz?!” She turned her cold blue stare to her friend. Her voice softened slightly.

“Well...well...”

“Spit it out Fitz!” Wards tone was as deadly as Skye’s.

“She’s a Hybrid” Fitz chocked out.

“I’m a what?!”

“A hybrid your father was obviously human but your mother not so much, we obviously are struggling to determine what your other half is but we ruled out the Azguardians and the Frost Giants”

“If that’s true then why hasn’t she displayed any erm...abilities before today?”

It was Coulson that answered this time “Her mother bound her abilities and her memories to keep her safe, the night they were murdered she knew they were coming for Skye. She hid her in a closet and compelled her to forget everything and stay silent. It was S.H.I.E.L.D that killed my brother and his wife but it was a corrupt faction of S.H.I.E.L.D they wanted to recreate an army of super soldiers like Steve Rogers but all attempts had failed. When they learned of a race of aliens called World Builders they became obsessed the council thought they were mad to believe what was obviously nothing more than a myth and disowned them. As it turns out the myth proved to be more than just a legend, it is believed that the World Builders were a very advanced race, the first life in the universe in fact. They could control and manipulate genetic code and it’s thought that they kick-started the life cycle on many of the 12 planets. They loved to experiment with their creations but one day this went terribly wrong when they created a species so vile and vicious that it wiped all but a few of them out and took over their planet. Those that escaped found refuge on other planets, your mother came here. Like Azguadians their lifespan is considerably longer than ours. So long as your mother moved around she was safe, she went undetected for a few millennia. That was until she met your father, they fell in love. She knew it was a risk especially since my brother was one of S.H.I.E.L.D’s best biologists but just like her daughter she saw the best in people. She chose to believe that even if she was found out that humanity would be kind to her sadly she was very wrong. I tried to warn them but it was too late when I got to the house they were dead. I found you curled up in the bedroom closet, I wanted to care for you myself but they would know what you were you’d never have been safe. When your mother bound your alien side she gave you the best chance of survival she could, I had to honour that. So I asked a trusted colleague to drop you off at St Agnes that way you wouldn’t be linked back to me or your parents. I had to forget you existed, If I contacted you then your cover would have been blown.” The older agent wiped away the solitary tear that had escaped his too bright eyes.

Skye had listened intently throughout Coulson’s speech her anger fading with every passing moment, as she took in her parents last moments.

“So you think that when Skye read the file on her parents it triggered her memories and thereby her abilities?” reasoned Fitz.

“Yes I think that’s what happened; I also think that’s what the sender wanted”

“Who sent you the file Skye?” Ward asked her gently.

“Miles” she said without thinking, before kicking herself mentally she wasn’t supposed to let that slip.

“I thought you weren’t in contact with him anymore” Grant desperately tried to reign in his jealousy and temper.

“I’m not I haven’t spoken to him since we left him in Hong Kong, he said he’d been passed the unredacted file by an old friend of my dad’s” she left out the part about meeting him Austen. She felt a sharp pang of guilt but if she wanted to find out what this guy knew she couldn’t mention the meeting place. She formed a cunning little plan in her mind. There was no way they would let her go off to Texas on her own especially now. They’d just threatened to lock her in the interrogation room for god’s sake but she could get them to fly their unknowingly. All she had to do was twist the truth a little; she wasn’t going to feel bad about it either. They’d all been lying to her well apart from Grant, he’d be pissed with her but if anyone could understand her needing to know the truth it should be him.

“He also said he’d managed to get the tracker off, he’s back in Austen and he just wants to help me.”

“He got the tracker off?” Fitz was obviously impressed. Ward glared at him and he backtracked “Oh well I’m sure he had help, it’s not that impressive”

“Fitz tell May to set a course for Austen, Texas I think it’s time we payed Mr Lydon a visit”

When it was obvious that Skye had managed to calm herself and her eyes were almost back to their usual colour. He walked up to her hugging her from behind and whispered in her ear “I Love You, I’m here whatever you need. I don’t care what you are we’ll get through this OK?” she was crying. She didn’t even attempt to hide it this time, her whole body shook not with anger but with grief. Grief for two people she would never know and could not really remember. His heart cracked wide for the first time since he’d known her, here was a problem he could not fix whatever her did. He could kill Hyde, The Rat and all those responsible for her parent’s murders but it still wouldn’t bring them back she would still have to feel this sadness. He wished he could take it away but he knew the pain of losing someone close to you, the agony of realising that they are gone and that they won’t come back. When her knee’s gave way he sank to the floor with her, holding her tightly as she cried. Coulson left them alone sensing that it was Ward that she needed right now, it was only him that could reach her.

“Fitz get Simmons and see if you can do a background check on Miles Lydon, we need to know who passed him that file” he shot at Fitz as he passed him on his way to speak to May.

“Right away sir, do you think she’ll be OK sir?”

“We need to give her time Fitz, I lied to her to keep her safe but it doesn’t make it any easier to hear” Fitz nodded he understood. “The best thing we can do now is make it worth it, we have to help her” with that he retreated into the cockpit to talk to talk to May.

He sat in the co-pilots chair and sighed heavily and waited for the “I told you so”  
.  
“I take it from all the shouting and commotion that she knows” as always Mays tone gave nothing away.

“Yes”

“She didn’t take it well?”

“It could have gone better”

“Do we need to lock her up” business like as ever

“Right Now that would be a very bad idea she shattered one of my admantium glasses, imagine what she could do to one of us if we tried to force her into that room”

May raised her eyebrows “So she’s powerful then, do I need to remind you that we are in a metal plane?”

“No, I know she’s dangerous but she’s more dangerous when she’s angry or backed into a corner. Ward’s with her she won’t hurt him”

“Can we take that risk? This morning she was a normal girl, now she’s an alien hybrid that can mutate DNA and shatter adamantium. She obviously can’t control these abilities and who knows what else she could be capable of?”

“Then we watch her closely and we sedate her if we have to”

May sighed she didn’t like this, she felt sorry for the girl but while her abilities were ruled by her emotions she was a danger to them all. She also knew that the sedating would likely fall to her there was no way the others would be able to do it. Damn it she told him this would end in tears but looking at him now she couldn’t bring herself to give him the dressing down he deserved. Lies lead to nothing but pain some secrets had to be kept yes but never from family.


	8. The Bar

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Skye must make some tough decisions and put her trust in someone she has never met before to get the answers she is desperate for but is this new man what he seems or has she just made a terrible mistake.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow can’t believe we are on chapter 8 thank you so much for your continued support I’m so glad that you all like my work. If you want to keep up with me and my writing you can look up Skye’s Scrapbook on tumblr or @hollyedolly87 on twitter.

It was early the next day when they arrived in Austen, she’d not slept that much was evident by the purplish rings under her eyes. She had clung to Grant and sobbed until her tears ran dry and he held her close to his heart. Rocking her, stroking her hair and soothing her as best he could but he knew it was no use. No matter what he did it would change nothing, yesterday morning he’d had a beautifully normal girlfriend well almost normal and now? She’d aged at least ten years since she’d learned her parent’s fate and her history, that spark that had once burned so bright had started to fade just a little. She was now a hybrid one of the last descendants of a powerful alien race, she could apparently mutate DNA, shatter adamantium with powerful electric bolts and who knew what else.

That worry that had been festering in his gut since she had been shot had intensified tenfold, in truth he was scared more afraid than he’d ever been. Not of Skye herself (ok she was a little intimidating especially when her eyes flashed like that) but what it would mean for her. Her race had been able to create worlds until they’d nearly been wiped out by one of their own creations he shuddered at that. Whatever that was had to be truly horrific if it could obliterate such powerful beings. It was obvious why Hyde was obsessed with her now and what his intentions where, now more than ever he had to deal with him but he had to find the bastard first. He would start with Miles Lydon, it was obvious that Coulson suspected that it was Hyde or their mystery rat that had passed him that file. Despite Skye’s assurances that although Miles had made some unfortunate decisions of late he would never and had never hurt her Ward was not buying it. He had always mistrusted that guy; he told himself this was based on his years of experience as an agent and not the fact that he was Skye’s ex. He would get the truth out of the lying scumbag and if he got to play rough well that would just be a little perk.

“Wheels down in 5” May called over the com system followed by “Coulson wants everyone in the war room for a briefing now”.

They all gathered around the centre console in the War Room as Coulson addressed them all, Skye huddled near Grant staring at the floor unwilling to meet any of them in the eye. She was still majorly pissed at everyone bar Ward although her anger was mainly directed at her supposed uncle but the others had still lied to her. She couldn’t let that go so easily they were supposed to be her friends, her team FitzSimmons knew that something was very wrong with her and they’d spent all week pretending she was fine. They should have told her she thought bitterly, so she would not feel guilty about what she was going to do very shortly.

“Ok so we all know why we are here, we need to question Miles Lydon on who sent him the file that he passed to Skye amongst other things. May and I will catch up with Mr Lydon we’ll try his apartment first I’m sure he wouldn’t be foolish enough to go back their but you never know we might get lucky. Fitz were you and Simmons able to dig anything up at all?”

“Not really Sir, whoever Miles was in touch with and whoever helped him get back into the US covered their tracks well. Until he sent Skye that email he was silent he’s not popped up on anyone’s radar at all! All highly unusual but I guess it’s not impossible for such an accomplished hacker” Fitz’s tone was a little reverent but Wards death glare silenced him.

“Right well that doesn’t give us much to go on but we have a few of his known associates and hang outs that we can try. Ward if you can work on some of the known associates we may be able to track him down faster. Fitz and Simmons you keep looking if you come up with anything contact us through the coms, any other information to add Skye?” he was gentle when he addressed her as though she was liable to explode at any moment.

“No” her monosyllabic answer set them all on edge, It was understandable that she would be withdrawn what with everything that had happened in the last 24 hours but this was so far from her usual self. Coulson didn’t believe that she had nothing else of value when it came to her ex but he didn’t push his luck from the looks of her he thought himself lucky she answered him at all. “OK then I think it best that Skye stay on the bus with Fitz and Simmons on this” they all agreed to this even Skye gave a small nod. Which bugged Ward a lot he was very shocked by her willingness to be left behind, the Skye he knew would have been eager for more information would have been desperate to know who sent Miles that file. He shook himself she was grieving and she’d just found out she was half alien and that Coulson was her uncle of course she wasn’t herself. 

As May and Coulson were getting ready to leave in the short bus he pulled her into his arms, she was stiff at first but slowly he felt her relax and she snaked her arms around his waist. “Will you be OK here on your own?” his voice was tender.

“Yeah, Fitz and Simmons are around. I think I need to be alone for a little while, to take it all in you know?” she said simply.

“Yeah I know” he pressed his lips to hers in a feather light kiss. “If you need me just call OK?”

“I thought I wasn’t supposed to disrupt you on missions” she smiled and for a brief moment she was his Skye again. The smart mouthed, reckless, full of fire and heart rookie and his heart swelled she was still their under all her hurt and grief she was still Skye. He smiled at that and pressed his forehead against hers “Well just think of this as an exceptional circumstance, just please promise me” he pleaded.

“OK” she breathed.

He kissed her temple and whispered an “I love you” in her ear before climbing into the SUV and he was gone. May and Coulson followed not long after, Fitz and Simmons retreated to the lab. She turned down their offer to join them if she wanted to meet up with Miles she had to be quick and she was going to have to do something she would regret ok maybe two things. She padded to her bunk quickly slipping on a hooded jacket and retrieved a backpack, she packed up her laptop and a few essentials along with all the cash she had. She scribbled a quick note to Grant explaining, guilt twisted her stomach. She had to do this, she had to know the truth and right now Miles was the key to that. Coulson had had the opportunity to come clean so many times and he hadn’t. He’d lied right to her face, given her false hope when all along he knew her parents were dead. She’d lost whatever trust she’d built up for him and she couldn’t take Grant for one he’d never let her go alone and secondly the email had said come alone. She knew the risk she was taking if this did go bad she couldn’t be the reason that he got hurt. She had to keep him safe, she hated lying to him but it had to be this way. She picked up the night night gun that she’d managed to slip away from the lab in the early hours while the others slept. Now the second thing she would regret, she slung her backpack onto her shoulders and headed to the lab as quietly as she could. She’d noticed that since her abilities had been triggered her stealth had greatly improved she barely made a sound as she entered the lab. The two young scientists were far too busy arguing to notice her come up behind them; her aim had to be true if she was to stand any chance of getting off the bus without the three senior agents being alerted she had to hit her mark. It’s not like she was killing them right? She took Simmons out first and before Fitz could even ask her what the hell she was doing she had reloaded and took him down too, god damn she was fast now or maybe it was the adrenaline.   
She looked down at her friends passed out on the floor and swallowed hard, this wasn’t her but right now it had to be. “I’m really sorry guys” she whispered before she lowered the cargo hold and set off to find her old hang out. She’d briefly considered boosting Lola but she was hardly inconspicuous plus it wasn’t Lola’s fault Phil was a fraud, Jesus was she actually thinking about the car like it was a damn person?

She rounded the corner and the bar came into sight a complete dive really, the wooden window frames were rotten and peeling and the once white rendered walls were grey with pollution and age. “Durty Nelly’s” proclaimed to be an Irish bar though the only Irish thing about the place was the Jameson’s Whisky she smiled this place held a lot of fun memories it may be a dump but she and Miles had had a lot of good times here. It’s owner Dexter or Dex for short was a good friend and a fellow rising tide member he’d inherited the place from his dad and it had become the official meeting place for the Austen based members. She checked her watch 11:55am she was early she couldn’t stand around outside though she hoped she’d have at least an hour before the others realised there was something wrong. Though if Coulson or Ward checked in early she’d be busted still she no longer had her tracking bracelet on and this place was not on their list. Dex was as paranoid as Miles he took great care in making sure he kept a low profile always holding meetings in his back room. She pushed open the door and entered the dark, dimly lit room. As soon as he registered who had entered his bar a huge grin spread across his handsome face Dex was in his mid thirties, like Ward he was well built but unlike Grant he was a complete surfer. His skin was tanned, his hair a mass of blonde curls that clung to his head in the Texas heat, his eyes a deep lush blue. He jumped the bar and pulled her into a bone crushing hug he pulled back and took a good look at her “Look what the cat dragged in” his voice was deep and rich and she knew he’d turned many a woman into a quivering wreck with that voice.

Her smile matched his, she felt like she hadn’t seen him in years which yeah she hadn’t “How you doing Dex?”

“You know me baby, I’m always good. So listen I’ve been hearing some pretty weird rumours about you like how you joined public enemy number 1” there was no accusation in his tone it was light and full of humour like always. 

“I guess Miles told you huh?”

“Yeah he told me how he’d been a dick and screwed it up between the two of you, so naturally I gave him some shit about that along with his selling info to some pretty dark douche bags” he shook his head at that, distaste coulored his handsome features.

“Yeah he screwed up pretty bad but you know after recent events maybe I can forgive him just a little” she smiled at the man who at one time had been like a big brother to her.

“So listen I know why you joined S.H.I.E.L.D and I’m not gonna pry into that but just tell me your being careful right?”

“Well I was and then Miles sent me something that kind of shot that to hell” she looked into her friends big blue eyes as tears shone in her own.

“What happened baby girl?” he looked worried now, S.H.I.E.L.D where not someone you wanted to get on the wrong side of. He may be a member of the tide but he was not flashy about it like some of them were Dex believed in freedom of information which was why he did what he did but he kept a low profile and stayed off the grid as much as he could. She left out her new hybrid status but the rest poured out of her including how she’d had to knock FitzSimmons out to get here. He pulled her close hugging her tightly he’d always had a soft spot for Skye ever since Miles had first brought her along to a meeting she was barely 18 then. “Shhhh it’s gonna be OK baby girl, Miles and Me you know we’ll help you get away from them. We can get you new ID and papers, get you out of the country if we have to” This was not good those fucking bastards thought they could do whatever the hell they wanted, murder who they liked, kidnap who they wanted, keep secrets from the world and steal technology. They’d likely lock her up brand her a traitor now she’d have to run there was nothing else for it. He had contacts though he could help, he would help, hell he’d pack up and go with her if he had to. It wasn’t like he had family counting on him since his dad died; he was ex military he knew what happened to people that didn’t toe the line.

At that moment Miles entered the bar followed by a guy he’d never seen before he guessed this was the old friend of her dad’s he’d emailed her about. The guy was in his early fifties he had a kind face that spread into a reassuring smile when he saw her. He wasn’t a tall man, his short black hair was greying at the sides it gave him a Mr Fantastic sort of look she gave a small smile back. “This must be Skye” he held out his hand, she gave a small nod and took his hand politely. She would have been a lot more hesitant if Miles and Dex had not been with her “My name is Dr Mark Johnson I used to work with your dad, I think we have a lot to talk about and I’m guessing we’re short on time?”

“Yeah they don’t know about this place but I had to knock some of my team out to get here, it won’t be long till they realise something’s wrong” she swallowed hard when she thought about Fitz and Simmons passed out on the lab floor.

“Hey Man can we use your back room?” Miles shot at Dex.

“Yeah sure, you guys don’t have anything they can track here do you?” Dex was nervous about this.

“No burner cell” Miles shook his phone at Dex, the Dr guy shook his head.

“I’ve got my laptop but its encrypted they won’t be able to track it here” Skye reassured him.

“Ah we taught her well” Miles winked at Skye. She scowled a little but she couldn’t muster up a proper one he was risking a lot to help her she knew that. She just hoped he didn’t read too much into this just because Grant would likely hate her when he found out what she’d done didn’t mean she was going to give up hope all together. Grant was her rock, her soul mate it sucked big time that she had to risk all of that now but if this guy had answers she needed to know.

“Let’s get this show on the road then shall we” Miles lead Skye and the Dr into the small back room that served as Dex’s office/meeting place. He took a seat behind the small desk that was pushed into a corner, Skye perched herself on the corner of the desk while Dr Johnson sat opposite them.

“So you must have a lot of questions for me Skye, I will try to answer them as fully as I can for you. You likely won’t remember me I think you were only 3 the last time I saw you” he smiled at her warmly “I was your fathers best friend and your god father” she gasped at that.

“You’re my godfather?” he nodded.

“Yes I was very close to your parents, your father and I were at Havard together and then the academy at S.H.I.E.L.D we both graduated early and we worked together right up until he died”

“You mean he was murdered” she corrected

“Yes” he agreed sadly “When I learned what had happened I tried to check on you but S.H.I.E.L.D had already taken you away, they wouldn’t tell me or my wife where. Not even your uncle would relay that information not even when we offered to take you in” his sincerity stole her breath. Her Godparents had wanted her, they’d offered to take her in she wasn’t as unwanted as she’d always been told. When Phil had told her he wanted to care for her she couldn’t bring herself to believe it but when Mark Johnson   
expressed the same sentiment she found herself hoping it was the truth.

“Do you know why they were murdered” she asked.

“Yes Skye I do, your father trusted only two people with his secret myself and his brother who Miles informs me you already know” she nodded “Do you know your history?”

“Yes Agent Coulson told me after I kind of lost it with him”

“So you know then that your mother was the last of a dying race and that you are a hybrid?”

“Yes, Coulson believes that you had Miles send me that file to trigger my abilities?” she had to ask right?

“I’m sure he would say that but as I said only two people knew your secret and I know that it was not I that revealed it to S.H.I.E.L.D, I also know that your father was not a careless man he would never have revealed it himself”

“So you’re saying that Coulson...”

“Of that I cannot be certain there is always the possibility that they found out another way but it is not likely. Your parents were very careful your mother had seen enough of our race to know what was at stake” his tone was one of kindness but he was deadly serious.

“Coulson made it seem like she just hoped for the best” another lie it seemed.

“Your mother had lived on earth for millennia she had seen humanity at it’s very worst, she was a very loving and kind woman but she was by no means naive she knew full well what was likely to happen if she was exposed” Skye’s eyes brimmed with unshed tears.

“How could they do this to them? To Me?” her voice was thick with grief. Miles pulled her into his lap and hugged her from behind. She knew she should stop him, push him away but right at that moment she needed someone. She really needed Grant but since he couldn’t be here, Miles and Dex were all she had.

“I wish I could tell you I didn’t know dear but the fact is the world is full of monstrous people hiding in plain sight. We don’t always know who they are the truth is your mother and father knew the day would come, when S.H.I.E.L.D became obsessed with the old stories of your mother’s race they knew their days were numbered. They bound your powers by compelling you to forget what you where they knew if you were young you would not remember them. In their will they left your guardianship to my wife and I unfortunately that was not how things turned out”

“How did you find out about me? I wiped myself off the grid altogether”

Dr Johnson looked impressed almost proud at that “After your parent’s deaths I resigned from S.H.I.E.L.D I could not work for an agency so corrupt. After we failed to locate you my wife and I agreed we needed a new start, she has family in Hong Kong old bankers. I started up my own biochem business and I am very successful I only wish it could have been a joint venture” he shook his head sadly “For years we heard nothing of you but it seems after your team left poor Miles stranded he did some digging once he removed his tracker. I’m afraid that S.H.I.E.L.D have been tracking the movements of a young lady that thought it was a rather fetching bangle” he and Miles both chuckled at that. “His search led him to me once he explained your circumstances I knew instantly it was you. I cashed in some favours and was able to secure the unredacted file, the most interesting thing to me is that while Miles assured me you remembered nothing about your past life you obviously remembered one thing” he smiled knowingly.

“What?” she was very curious about this.

“Your name my dear, when S.H.I.E.L.D dumped you at St Agnes no doubt for safe keeping they changed your name to Charlotte Black your actual name was Skye Anne Coulson. So you see since you didn’t know that when you changed your name to Skye you must have known on a subconscious level what it was and that is very special indeed. It tells me that you are a very strong young woman who knows who she is” he smiled “your parents would have been very proud”.  
She smiled a watery smile that touched her eyes “Thank You” she didn’t know what it was about this man that made her put her trust in him but she did. She just hoped she was being led by her gut and not by wishful thinking she so desperately wanted a real family and until her team had betrayed her she thought she’d found it with them.

“Now we come to the critical point, I’m sure you appreciate the danger you are now in. S.H.I.E.L.D can now denounce you as a traitor which means they can take you anywhere and do anything they like to you. When they came for your parents it was so they could take you they hoped to do so before their murders became public knowledge. Why your uncle hid you and didn’t hand you over I can’t say but he will have to this time no doubt he had some agenda of his own. That is irrelevant now once they know you are active they will want to resume their original plans”

“Which where?”

“To build an army of super soldiers, as well as using you as a walking weapon of mass destruction”

“What?!”

“Skye not only could the World Builders mutate DNA they also had an array of other talents they could communicate telepathically, they were telekinetic, they could freeze time, perhaps the most impressive is their use of high energy electric bolts so strong they could reduce cities to rubble” he arched a brow “I guess your uncle did not share that information”

“No not really, the bolts I discovered on my own I kind of blew up an admanatium glass”

“No Way” Miles who had been silent up until that point chimed in, it seemed he’d heard all this before.

“So you are strong then, good if you’re to defend yourself you will need to be. Skye I know that you do not know me but your parents trusted me as your guardian. I know your godmother would be overjoyed to see you and you really are not safe here. I came here to help you I do hope that you will consider coming back to Hong Kong with me, you would be safe there. I have contacts that have secured the necessary papers for me, perhaps between us all we can figure out how to help you use and control your abilities”

“Leave the US?” she swallowed past the lump in her throat “But I have someone here...If I just leave”

“You have a young man?”

She nodded blinking back tears.

“I understand that this must be very hard for you especially if it means leaving behind someone you care about but Skye. These people are good at what they do they will use any means possible to get what they want they will not think twice about hurting your boyfriend to get to you. This will sound cruel but if you love this man then you must for his sake let him go. They killed your father to try and make your mother give you up to them. I beg you let me help you I failed you once I cannot do so again I have both the money and the influence to keep you safe and hidden. S.H.E.I.L.D are not are only concern the DOD along with terror cells around the world would do anything to lay hands on you. It was your parent’s biggest fear” he was pleading with her and in her heart she knew he was right. She was at risk, the proof of S.H.I.E.L.D.s part in this was in that file in black and white even Phil couldn’t deny that he said it was only a corrupt faction but after all his lies how could she trust that. Dr Johnson had offered her nothing but proof and openness she respected that. Her heart broke when she thought about leaving Grant behind but she knew him. He would die trying to protect her and that is what would happen if she stayed he would die maybe not today or tomorrow but somewhere down the line history would repeat itself. She could not allow that to happen her decision had been made the moment she realised just how much danger Grant was in she loved him too much to let him lay down his life for hers he deserved much better than that. 

“How will we leave? It’s not like I can walk through an airport” she reasoned.

“I have a private plane ready and waiting to take us all as soon as you are ready to leave” his smile was hopeful.

“And you’ll help me control it so I won’t hurt anyone?”

“I will do my very best Skye, we have some of the best labs and researchers at our disposal”

“Miles?” she turned to face her ex, he’d fucked up but in her heart she did not believe he would do anything to hurt her.

“You can trust him Skye, he’s actually a good guy I know I don’t really like these big rich CEO types but annoyingly he really does care about you. When I found him it was like I was his own personal Santa he’s been looking for you for a long time. S.H.I.E.L.D took your parents and then they took your chance at a happy home but you can get that back, you can have a real family again it’s not the same as your mom and dad but it’s something. You deserve this, you deserve to be happy, and if I thought for one minute he was a bad guy I never would have brought you here” he looked her dead in the eyes.

“OK, let’s just go before I wuss out” she nodded.

“My driver is outside we best hurry any other questions I can answer on the plane. I promise you Skye I really do care about you and so does my wife and Miles here we just want what’s best for you”

“Let’s Hurry I don’t want to cross paths with that angry guy again” shot Miles.

With that they left the bar, Skye promised to let Dex know she was safe as soon as she could. A black town car whisked them away to a private air strip and on to a plane that would take her to a new life in a foreign land. That angry guy Miles had mentioned was the love of her life and by the time he made it to that air strip it was too late she’d gone. She cried herself to sleep that night she may have had good reasons for leaving him behind but it didn’t stop her heart from breaking in two of all the pain she had endured these last few weeks this had to be the worst. She knew this was a wound that would never heal; he would never forgive her for this.

She had no way of knowing she had just made the worst mistake of her life on two counts the first of which was that if she thought for one second that Grant Ward would not go to the ends of the earth to find her she was very wrong and the second count well she was about to find out.


	9. The Note

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Grant finds Skye's note desperate to find her after her rash departure he tracks down an old friend of hers for help.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I hope you liked that last chapter I originally thought this story would be 10 chapters long but I have so many ideas some I’ve pinched from my independent work just because it seemed to fit the characters well, I hope you’ll agree. I think by the time I finish this it may well be a novel lol but old habits die hard there will be a few lighter moments in this chapter but we’re still all drama and action. Oh and any mistakes are mine, I do have arthritis in my wrists so I’m prone to typos and I don’t always catch them all. Sorry about that.

Grant

I know it may not seem like it just now but I love you, I loved you since the day you put that bag over my head. It kills me that I’m doing this without you, you’re my rock, my soul mate but right now I have to find the truth about who I am and what happened to my parents. I’m going to find an old friend of my dad’s he says he can help, I know exactly what you’d say “be smart, think about this” which is exactly why I couldn’t take you with me because if this goes bad it has to be on me. I can’t risk you’re life on a maybe but I have to know for sure. If something goes wrong, if this is a trap if it’s bigger than me and I just kick started the apocalypse find Dex. Tell him SkyeBlue’s in trouble and he’ll help. Someday when this is all over I know I don’t deserve it but I hope you can forgive me.

Love You Always

Skye

He crushed the note to his chest, he’d read it a hundred times since he’d returned to the bus. He’d known something was wrong the minute he couldn’t get hold of her, he’d called after his first few known associates had been a bust they’d not seen Miles in months. He wasn’t surprised that she didn’t answer she’d said she needed some time alone but when he’d tried to get hold of FitzSimmons and got no answer he knew. His heart kicked up a notch and alarm bells were blaring in his head the wonder twins were many things, but quiet was not one of them. He raced back to the bus at speeds to rival Jenson Button, when he found the two young scientists passed out on the lab floor he thought the worst. Someone must have come for her Hyde must have come for her, he searched the whole bus and then he found this damn note on his pillow. It was in her messy scrawl and it wasn’t forced or rushed she’d written this herself, he’d gone back to the lab to try and rouse his colleagues. When they came too they both confirmed what he now feared that it was Skye that had knocked them out. 

He was sat in her bunk his head in his hands when Coulson knocked; there was no escaping it he’d have to talk to his superior. Fitz and Simmons would already have given their version of events; he opened the door slowly and took in the look of sympathy on the older man’s face.

“Are Fitz and Simmons Ok?” he asked before Coulson could spout any stupid words of wisdom, as cruel as it sounded they weren’t his real concern at that moment but he swore if Coulson said anything about this being her fault he would lose it big time. At first he’d been transported back to the first time she’d ran off without him, the sting of betrayal he’d felt then had been unbearable. This time was different though he knew her better now; he knew she’d never do anything like this without him if she wasn’t desperate. If Coulson had just been honest with her, with him all of this could have been avoided. She would be here on the bus safe with him; they would have figured all this out together. Instead because of all their lies she was god knows where with god knows who, the rage that he fought so hard to control was fast taking over.

“They are a little shaken but they’ll be fine, given what she could have done to them they got off easy. Do you have any idea where she went?” Phil was worried, his niece was a rule breaker but this was extreme even for her. It was clear she either had no intention of returning or could not; he’d mentally kicked himself when Ward had called him back to the bus. He should have known better than to leave her here with only FitzSimmons to guard her, she was upset and vulnerable he should have seen this coming.

“No I don’t but you knew that, if I knew where she was I’d be there with her. You do realise this could all of been avoided if you’d just been honest with us” Ward didn’t call his superiors out but damn it he was going to do it today.  
“Ward I couldn’t tell you, you would never have been able to keep it from her. Believe it or not it’s my lies that have kept her alive for the past 21 years” he knew he had this coming he couldn’t blame Ward for being royally pissed at him but he had to make him understand that things were not that simple.

“Are you serious? Your lies had her knocking out her friends just to get off this damn plane. She’s now who knows where and we have no idea how to start and find her. He could have her! She could be locked up in that lab of horrors for weeks before we get to her...she’ll never be the same” he swallowed hard past the lump in his throat the thought of anyone hurting her was too much to bear. “Don’t stand there and tell me all your lies were worth it, I get that you couldn’t tell her back then I even get why you had to leave her at St Agnes. But what I don’t get is why when you worked out why he wanted her you didn’t come clean then. You and May you knew the mystery agent that dropped her off? May, Right? You told Simmons to act like there was nothing wrong you made me feel like an ass for worrying, when all the time you knew what was happening to her.”

“Ward I wanted to tell her, I really did May told me too but I just couldn’t. She wasn’t ready I knew that there was a good chance she would bolt if I did that she’d run right into his grasp. I had no way of guaranteeing that if she left the safety of this bus that you would follow her. S.H.I.E.L.D. has been your life Ward you live for field work, it’s what you excel at. When Skye’s parents were murdered some of the corrupted faction were ousted and tried for their crimes but the top players never were some of them may still be within the organisation. If Hyde is working with them, which would explain how he found you then we cannot fully trust those we serve. Would you give it up for her Ward? Will you spend your life forever looking over your shoulder moving from place to place just to be with her? Can you do that? I wanted to keep her safe for as long as I could I thought if I kept her in the dark if her powers remained bound that there was a chance I could convince my superiors that she wasn’t what these nuts know she is. Fury and the council they’ll help us track these lunatics down but when all this is over if they decide she’s too much of a risk...well your an agent you know how they will seek to handle this”

Ward shook his head “I love her Coulson and I don’t mean that sappy movie love, I mean I really love her. You’re right at one time S.H.I.E.L.D was my life but when she came aboard this plane that all ended, I fooled myself that I took on the role of her SO because I could teach her to become an agent like me. She’s nothing like me she’s far better she’s empathy, compassion, warmth and light, she wears her heart on her sleeve, she’s reckless, a rule breaker, she’s not driven by blind loyalty but by love and a desire to do the right thing. She’ll never be an Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D because following orders blindly without even questioning if what you’re being asked to do is right. That’s not her and that’s what makes her better than all of us maybe the Avengers will take her” he smiled at that Skye and Tony Stark together now there was a recipe for chaos. “If you’d have asked me those questions a month ago I would have hesitated but my answer would have been the same. My universe has no centre without her; she’s my sun, my everything. So If I have to leave S.H.I.E.L.D and tear this world apart to save her I will, I’ll take every son of a bitch out who ever dared lay a finger on her and I’ll do it without a second thought. I’ll track her to the ends of the earth until she looks me in the eye and tells me she doesn’t love me. You think I’m Mr T-1000 perfect agent that toes the company line well maybe that’s who I was before her but it’s not who I am now. If you and S.H.I.E.L.D really are the good guys then you won’t stand in my way” he glared at Coulson it didn’t matter how many excuses he gave, he should have told them the truth.

“I know it doesn’t mean much to you now but I’m sorry I doubted you, I know I’m not going to be able to stop you from going after her but will you at least let me help. You may not know where she is but from the way you’ve been studying that note she must have left you a clue” 

“All she gave me was a name...Dex” Coulson was a lot of things and right now Ward was very close to hating him but if he was going to find her he would need help. He didn’t trust Phil right now but he trusted her and if she said this Dex guy could help him find her then he had to track him down, he’d need his teams help for that. “If he’s an old friend chances are he’s rising tide which means he’s likely to be very mistrusting of us, I need help finding him but after that I’m going it alone” there was no way he was compromising on that part.

“Sir” Simmons approached the two men at speed “Mr Starks, Jarvis picked her up she apparently headed to a bar called Durty Nelly’s she was inside for just under an hour. The owners name is Dexter O’Neil he inherited the bar from his father 7 years ago before that he served in the Marine Core as Black Ops but that’s all we have on him. No criminal record, no apparent ties to any criminal organisations” Jemma Simmons was a tough one that was a fact for someone who had an hour ago been passed out on the floor of her lab after being shot in the back, she did quick work. What were the chances that this guy could not be the mysterious Dex as for him being ex Black Ops Ward didn’t know if that would go in his favour or not.  
“Good work Simmons did Stark agree to keep this between us”

“Yes Sir but he said you owed him big time and he’s still a tad annoyed that you failed to notify him of your miraculous recovery. Other than that he was very helpful” 

“Keep digging at the moment Dexter O’Neil is our only connection to Skye. Hopefully he will be able to give Agent Ward some idea of who Skye met up with and where she went from there. If he’s ex military there’s a good chance he will be willing to help us but any extra information we can gather on him will help.” He looked pointedly at Ward “Go now before anyone else tracks down Mr O’Neil, contact me if you find anything.”

Ward nodded his pack was still in the SUV he headed straight for the cargo bay, he hoped to god she was right about this guy that he would help because if not he had no idea how he would find her.

*************************************************************************************

He arrived outside the bar in record time and took in the run down appearance; he was glad he was in his street clothes and not the black suit he usually donned for interrogations. He pushed open the old wooden door and entered a dimly lit room the bar was small, none of the tables and chairs matched but oddly it worked. There was an old 50’s juke box pushed up into the corner by the rest rooms, the bar was well stocked although how Irish this place actually was remained to be seen the only Irish thing he could spot was the Jameson’s Whiskey.

Behind the bar stood a well built guy, his skin was tanned and the wavy blonde locks made him look like he belonged on a Florida beach not some run down bar in Austen. He was almost as tall as ward there was barely an inch in it and when he looked up it was with distrust, he obviously did not like strangers in his bar.

Dex O’Neil was an intelligent guy the minute that that stranger stepped into his bar he knew what he was, not his usual patron. He was an agent FBI, CIA maybe even S.H.I.E.L.D. It had been nearly 3 hours since Skye and Miles had left with that Dr guy they would be out of US airspace by now but this guy showing up was no coincidence he was government and he was after Skye that much he knew. He stared him down with open hostility “What Can I do for you?” 

“I’m looking for a girl; I was told she was in here earlier today.” No point making small talk this guy was not stupid “I believe you know her, she’s very special to me she left me this note” he placed it on the bar “she told me to find you told me to tell you that SkyeBlues in trouble that you’d help find her” 

Dex took the note he recognised the handwriting the messy scrawl “You’d be Grant then?”

Ward nodded “That’s Me”

Dex shook his head, damn her always biting off more than she could chew. He knew she was holding something back earlier she’d mentioned Agent Grant Ward but she’d left out his significance. He got the impression that she’d left an awful lot out, he looked at the young agent took in his sombre expression. Unless he was an Oscar winning actor he was really worried about her but that didn’t gel with what baby girl had said about him, he smiled when he saw her old code name. He’d taught her everything she knew about computer science although he was sure Miles the arrogant little punk would make the same claim but Dex had spent many hours in his back room teaching her and she was a natural. He helped her find as much as he could on herself before she followed a lead to LA even gave her his old van. She’d kept in contact before she joined S.H.I.E.L.D and after that he’d received one text and that was it till she turned up at his bar that afternoon. He sighed, this guy obviously cared about her he obviously went to great lengths to track him down and ask for his help and if Skye had sent him then she must trust him. “Did you come alone?”

“Yes”

“If your lying to me I will kick your ass” and he could Dex was a tough son of a bitch no stranger to combat.

“Noted” God this guy was like his double this was weird.

“I’m guessing when she came in here earlier today I didn’t get the whole story so if you want my help you better fill me in” Grant gave him the full story everything he knew, he didn’t know why but he trusted this guy.

Dex whistled “Son of a Bitch, baby girl what have you got yourself into” he shook his head. “She was meeting Miles he’d sent her the unredacted file on her parents, he’d said he’d been passed it by an old friend of her dads. He came in here with an older guy around noon early fifties, about 5”8, dark haired, white said his name was Dr Mark Johnson claimed to be her dads BFF and her godfather. She said he wanted to help her that she wasn’t safe in the US anymore that she had to leave the country. They left in a black town car were headed for a private air strip he had papers for her”

“Did they say where they were headed?”

“She said Hong Kong but who knows if that was the truth do you really think he’s in league with this Hyde guy?”

“I don’t know but my boss seems to think so, guess I’m headed to Hong Kong”

“It’s a pretty big place man, you may want to dig up some more intel before you charge in on your white horse, look I gotta ask do you love her?” Dex did not trust these government suits, he never really trusted them back in his Marine Core days and he sure as hell didn’t trust them now, he had his reasons but he wasn’t going into them with this guy. If Skye was in trouble he couldn’t not help her, and if she’d sent a suit to him then she was in some deep shit.

“Yeah I do, I know you don’t know me and I’m guessing your more than just a bar tender if you know Skye so I know you don’t trust S.H.I.E.L.D, if I’m honest I’m not too sure I do right now. I need to find her, I need to fix this because if he has her then....” he couldn’t finish that sentence  
.  
“That bad?”

“Your Ex Black Ops right? So you know how these guys operate, he wants something from her and he’s going to make sure he gets it. No matter what he has to do, I saw the state of his last victims some of them were so messed up I thought they were dead. Maybe I’m a selfish son of a bitch but right now I don’t care about the fact that he’s hell bent on destroying the world. I just want her back, safe and I don’t care how I get her back but look if you can help I’m not gonna turn it down” Grant was on the war path but he knew if he was going to get her back that he needed help, this guy Dex may be his best hope.

“Jesus” Dex rubbed his eyes with the heels of his hands “But Miles was with them, he loves her or he did why would he hand her over to someone whose hell bent on hurting her? That’s what I don’t get, the kids a flashy little punk ass but handing over a fellow member to the enemy is completely against the code” he’d never really liked Miles the kid was arrogant and if he was honest not that bright but some of his hacks had been impressive although Dex had helped on the bigger ones but this? Had he flipped on them?

“Yeah well sounds like he broke the code a few times just recently like selling information to some pretty evil people and your right he is a little punk ass. Skye said he’d never hurt her but at one time she also said he’d never lie to her but it didn’t stop him. That file that he sent her triggered her abilities he basically turned her into a walking target for every government agency and terror cell that would just love to use her abilities. Even if I can find her she’ll never be safe, chances are if S.H.I.E.L.D have gone dark and they won’t protect her then...” he blew out a big breath “we’ll spend our lives on the run”.

“You’d do that for her? You’d give up your whole life?” Dex was incredulous wow this guy was intense but right now there was no doubt this is what she needed. He was reeling he’d had that dumb kid in his bar he should have paid more attention. Damn it.

“Yeah I will, I don’t have much family not that I claim anyway and if S.H.I.E.L.D turn on her then they’ve turned on me too” that was the truth there’s no way he could remain part of an organisation that could turn on her.

“Look your right I don’t trust suits, I got my reasons and I’m not going into those with you. To me you’re a suit but if Skye’s in trouble there’s no way I’m not going to help. She’s like a kid sister to me. I got no-one else that relies on me I can get someone to watch the bar but you lie to me, any of your suit friends turn on me then I’ll take you down. If you’ve read my file you know I can do it, I’m here for Skye and that’s it. Before she left she said she’d let me know when she got their safe, I taught her everything she knows so maybe if we’re lucky I can track her cell or that cracked out laptop of hers. I know she had it on her she told me you guys wouldn’t be able to track it here, S.H.I.E.L.D may not be able to break her encryption but I can. If we get a location we can go from their Hong Kong may be good enough for you but personally I like to hammer the details out a little more before I walk into a hornets’ nest”

Grant had to chuckle at that yeah he guessed he must come across as reckless and desperate at the moment, he was. If he’d of met Dex before this though there’s no way he’d have accused him of that pre-Skye he was an organised, meticulous machine but just lately more and more of her characteristics were rubbing off on him. “You know I didn’t used to be like this...before her...well I was a very different guy” he didn’t know why he was sharing this, he didn’t know Dex.

“Love will do that to you”

“Sounds like you know”

“I did once, not anymore” Grant didn’t push it for one he didn’t know the guy and even if he had it didn’t sound like a subject that was up for discussion. His thoughts flicked back to Skye and his heart clenched with worry a small part of him a very small part had hope that she was right about Miles because at least if she was she’d have one person in her corner until they could get to her. Even if he wanted to beat the prick to a pulp, no matter what his intentions he was at least partially to blame for this mess.  
“So say we get her location, how do you plan to get their?” Dex broke his reflection, it’s not like they could really use public transport. If these guys had as much influence as the suit thought then they had to be watching out for anyone connected to S.H.I.E.L.D coming after her, which would mean they had to have the local police and maybe even security forces and politicians in their back pockets. Sneaking up on them was not going to be easy. Thinking about their potential monitoring capabilities raised another question “How the hell did you find me?” if Skye’s laptop was encrypted and she’d not left his address how the hell had the suit tracked him down? He had to know this so he could rectify it couldn’t have a repeat. Dex was off grid for a reason he didn’t want any old “friends” tracking him down.

“To answer your first question my team have a mobile flying unit that we can use, I’m sure director Fury can clear us to enter Chinese air space. As to how we found you Skye only left your name, but my team were able to talk Stark into helping track Skye. They managed to get a shot of her entering this bar and the liquor license stated the owners name was a Dexter O’Neil. What were the chances right?”

“God Damn Stark, well I guess there’s not much I can do about that then” he groaned. Unless... “If I help you track down Skye and get her back to the US you’ll owe me right?”

“Yeah I would”

“Well then there’s something I need you to do for me, I can wipe myself of all online databases but the damn paper files at the pentagon and apparently city hall I can’t get rid of. I don’t want anyone having any information on me no old military records, no school records no nothing. I want to be untraceable; you think you can do that?”

“I’ll talk to my boss you help us and you’re not some kind of super villain then I’m sure we can arrange it” He wondered what had happened to make this guy so paranoid, he didn’t give off any crazy vibes but then if there was one thing Grant Ward had learnt as an agent. You never could tell take Bruce Banner you couldn’t tell Ward that anyone on meeting Bruce could have predicted the guy could turn into a massive green rage monster if you ticked him off. It was always wise to keep your guard up who knew what lurked beneath the surface. “My team are searching for any sign of her or Miles Lydon now we have a general maybe they’ll narrow it down but if you could come back to the bus and lend them your...expertise maybe we can hurry the process along. Chances are they made her dump her laptop and she left her cell in her bunk”

“Where exactly is this bus?” Dex did not want to go strolling through any military bases or S.H.I.E.L.D HQ that would defy the point of keeping a low profile.

“We’re parked up at a small airfield it’s about a 20 minute drive from here, when can you be ready?”

“Give me an hour I need to get someone to watch the place and pack some equipment up” Grant nodded.

“You know we do have all the latest computer stuff in our lab”

“Computer Stuff?” Dex raised his eyebrows at that “Well I guess it’s true what they say opposites really do attract, computer stuff seriously?” he shook his head and retreated into his office to make a call.

He was ready in 20 minutes luckily Sam an old buddy had nothing better to do than to watch the bar. Sam likely another Tide member Grant thought and he guessed that’s what Dex was since he knew both Miles and Skye. Though he never officially admitted it, Sam was still a kid probably a little younger than Skye and he eyed Ward nervously.

“Right Suit, let’s go Sam I’m back when I’m back. Don’t trash the place or I’ll kick your ass got it”

“Got it” despite Dex’s warning the kid was laughing, then his glance swung back to Grant and he stopped.

They climbed into the SUV that bore the S.H.I.E.L.D logo “Wow subtle suit” quipped Dex.

“You know you can call me Ward” it was bad enough some of his team referred to him as robot without this.

“Nah I think I’ll stick to suit wouldn’t want you thinking we were buds or anything. Say did anyone ever tell you, you look like the T-1000?” Dex snickered.

“It may have been mentioned once or twice” he actually smiled at that for a moment normally he’d be pissed but he couldn’t help think of Skye.  
He started the engine and headed back to the airfield, I’m coming for you Skye just hold on he thought.


	10. The Despair

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ward and Dex must work together to confirm Skyes location, Dex is introduced to the rest of the team where Simmons catches his eye much to her delight and Fitz's annoyance.

The suit arrived at the small airfield in less than 20 minutes, driving like he belonged on a Nascar track. Dex had felt the need to point out to Agent Grant Ward that they weren’t going to be much use to Skye if they wound up upside down in a ditch. He drove the SUV straight up into the cargo hold of the plane and parked up right next to a smoking hot red corvette. He looked the suit up and down definitely not this guys, he was definitely not in to restored classics, If he had to guess he’d say this baby belonged to a middle aged man with a receding hairline with a love of collectables. He didn’t know how spot on he was until Ward took him to Agent Phil Coulsons office/museum, agent Coulson was polite and friendly which instantly set Dex on edge. He was sure this guy was nice enough but he was definitely not to be trusted, he’d met many suits like this and they were always all smiles right until they stuck a knife in your back.

“Welcome aboard Major O’Neil” great they had read his file, he sighed inwardly.

“It’s just Dex now Agent Coulson” he corrected.

“Well then...Dex, Agent Ward tells me you may be able to track down a member of my team that has gone missing. We are running her face through all our facial recognition programmes but as yet, no luck. So any help you can give us would be greatly appreciated.”

“You’re not going to find her that way”

“Oh?”

“She’s far too smart for that and if suit here is right about the guys that have her then there too smart for that too. When they left the bar they were headed for a private air field, they didn’t say where but there’s not that many of them in Austen. Our best bet is to start there maybe if we’re lucky one of the attendants caught something, if it were me I’d have filed a fake flight plan with the FDA but these rich guys will often pay someone to do that for them. If you find out who maybe you can get them to talk. They said they were taking her to Hong Kong but I’d want proof of that before you fly out there.”

Coulson observed Dex closely he was impressed the Marine Core must have been pissed to lose a guy like this, he wondered briefly what could have happened to drive him from the military. That was not listed on his file by all accounts Major O’Neil was a model operative highly skilled and very talented much like Ward in that respect. “I can have my team put together a list for you and Agent Ward to check out”

“I thought I was just brining him in to help FitzSimmons with the hacking stuff?” he had had no intention of taking a rising tide hacker along with him; this was supposed to be a one man mission.

“Agent Ward, Dex here is an ex Marine Core Black Ops specialist he is highly skilled and very talented, he may now be a bartender with a side line shall we say but I think given the state of things we’d be foolish to turn down his help here. I’m sure once you return he can assist FitzSimmons in gathering more information, he is right we need to determine for sure that they were headed to Hong Kong before we can go charging in. Chinese-US relations are not the best and there is a lot of corruption amongst Hong Kongs elite if we were to just barge in and start knocking on doors it’s likely they would flee with her before we even got close”

“I wasn’t suggesting that” he grumbled “Fine let’s go see FitzSimmons in the lab, see what they’ve come up with”

“Excellent idea” he smiled at the two men. This would be interesting on paper they were the same guy but something had obviously happened to the newcomer to make him distrustful of the government and the military.

“Nice Ride by the way” Dex shot at Coulson.

“Thanks, Lola’s a collectable. You into the classics?”

“My dad was” wow he even named it, nice to know his instincts were still sharp.

************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************

Ward led Dex down into the lab “So who’s this FitzSimmons guy then?” 

“Well it’s actually Agents Jemma Simmons our biochem specialist and Agent Leo Fitz our engineer” Ward corrected him introducing the two young agents; he wasn’t the first person to make that mistake.

“Hey” he nodded at perhaps the youngest suits he’d ever seen, they had to be younger than Skye and as far as he knew she was only 24. “And which grade are you graduating from?”

“Excuse me Mr....”

“Dex”

“Mr Dex but Fitz and I are both fully qualified S.H.I.E.L.D agents just because we graduated the academy a tad early does not mean we are not capable of performing our duties” Fitz would have backed her up but after being shot in the back once already that day he was a little intimidated by the blonde version of Ward. “What exactly are you doing in our lab anyway?”

Well I’ll be she’s a bit feistier than he thought she would be, pretty young thing and British too. He flashed her a winning smile he was very good at talking his way out of the dog house. “No offense Agent Simmons your just a bit younger than I was expecting, I’m sure you have brains as well as beauty” wow that was a little corny but it seemed to work, the young woman flushed. Wow she was beautiful when she smiled like that “Well....erm....thank you”

“My pleasure and it’s just Dex”

“Well this is all very nice but back to the point why are you in our lab?” the one Ward had called Fitz cut in.

“Suit?” he thought it best that Ward explain just in case he put his foot in his mouth again.

“He’s here to help us find Skye, he’s an old friend of hers we’re guessing he’s Rising Tide but I doubt he’d admit to that. He’s also ex black ops so Coulson and I think that he could be a big help especially since we don’t have very much to go on at the moment” he turned to Dex “and it’s just Ward!”

“Thought I was just here to help with the hacker stuff” a minute ago he didn’t want his help now he was saying he thought he could be a big help in the field. That right there was why he didn’t like suits, slippery bastards “Suit” he flashed a sarcastic smile at Mr T-1000. The pretty brunette stifled a giggle at the exchange, he shot her another of his panty dropping smiles while the other two men glared at him.

“Can we just get on with it please, we need to move quickly” man this guy was going to piss him off.

“Sure, what do you know hon?” he asked Simmons politely.

“Well we managed to track Skye to your bar but after that we lost them they must have parked the car out back and there were no working security cameras back there. So no licence plates means...”

“You couldn’t track the car” Dex filled in wow the Fitz kid really didn’t like that.

“Exactly” Jemma smiled.

“Well that’s annoying but I’ve never been afraid of hard work, like I said to your boss they were headed to a private air strip and there aren’t that many in Austen. If you get a list put together we can check them out with any luck we can track down the plane and find out where it went for certain”

“Excellent Idea we’ll get right on it, So your ex black ops?” she was curious about this very dashing stranger and given they day she’d been having what was the harm in a little flirtation.

“Yeah I enrolled in the Marine Core when I was 18 worked my way up, left 7 years ago” he supplied no harm in giving her what they already knew.

“Did you serve abroad?”

“Yeah I did a few tours of Iraq and Afghanistan before I moved up to black Ops”

“You must have lots of war stories” she sounded slightly excited about that, he couldn’t be pissed at her though. She was young too young to appreciate the reality of war.

“A few” he nodded.

“Can we save the get to know you for later, we have work to do. Simmons get me that list and Fitz keep checking for Skye try Hong Kong you may get lucky with the facial recognition” he was restless fed up of the chit chat. Ward was a man of action he needed to get that list and track down that plane because if he stood around idle he was going to lose it.

“About your facial recognition are you just running it through your own systems?”

“Of course not we have the CIA, NSA, DOD, Interpol and local PD on it as well as Jarvis” supplied Fitz smugly.

“Please tell me your joking, right?”

“No” Fitz face dropped. “Why?”

“You’re kidding me, you have... let’s say an Asset missing something that’s at risk not only from this Hyde person but maybe even from S.H.I.E.L.D itself and your running facial recognition software through every agency in the US?! And just hoping that if they find it they’ll tell you! And you don’t see why that might be a problem” Jesus this kid was dumb well he must be intelligent but he had no common sense that much was apparent.

“Well Coulson said to use every channel we had” reasoned Fitz.

“I doubt he meant you to broadcast that you were looking for her to the whole world! Look call them tell them the problems fixed and that includes S.H.I.E.L.D if you can’t trust them then you shouldn’t be using anything other than what you can encrypt on this plane to track her” The kid looked like he was about to throw up, Dex actually felt bad for him.

“But it’ll take ages to run this through our lab and we’d only be able to use certain satellites without being detected, Skye’s so much better at this stuff than me...”

“Look you said you were running a search through Jarvis right? Through Stark not S.H.I.E.L.D?”

“Yes”

“Well keep it running I know for a fact that Tony Stark loves nothing more than giving the middle finger to authority. If he thinks he’s up to no good even if it’s on your behalf he’ll keep it locked down, I’d trust him more than I’d trust the others. Plus he owes me a favour when you call him tell him Dex says Hi”

“OK” Fitz stretched the word out “Your telling me that Iron Man owes you a favour?”

“Actually he owes me a few” he winked.

“Agent Ward I have your list, I’ve sent it to your phone” Simmons piped up.

“Right let’s get going then, I want to get this done ASAP. Fitz make sure you do what Dex suggested as much as it pains me to admit it he’s right. The fewer people know we’re searching for her the better. Less chance of him finding out and moving her, If you find anything useful call my cell” normally they’d give Ward a good telling off for barking orders at them but given the stress he was likely under they gave him a pass. “You coming?” he shot at Dex.

“Yeah” Dex turned back to Simmons “Laters Beautiful” she flushed furiously at that and gave him a shy wave. He chuckled as he followed Ward back to the SUV leaving the two scientists in the lab.

“Does he have to do that?” Fitz complained.

“Oh Fitz he’s just being nice”

“To you maybe and he made it perfectly obvious why”

“Really Fitz we just met, he’s a very handsome fellow though. I wonder if he and Skye were just friends or if there’s some history their” she busied herself with her work after that thought. 

************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************

On their way back to the bus partly because he knew it would make Ward uncomfortable and partly because he was interested he brought up the subject of Agent Jemma Simmons “So the beauty in your lab what’s the deal with her and that Fitz guy? They like a thing?”

Jesus this guy didn’t waste time; this was not something Grant wanted to discuss even if his mind was not otherwise occupied. His co-workers love lives were something he deemed as off limits he did not need to know so he did not want to know. “You’d have to ask her that” he responded stiffly.

“Come on suit are you seriously telling me you don’t know, I thought you were a specialist isn’t it your job to notice the little details” reasoned Dex.

“Not when it comes to my colleague’s social lives”

“Their your team you don’t take an interest in what they do outside of work?”

“Not really”

“Well aren’t you just a big barrel of fun, look we got what we needed the guy squealed they definitely left for Hong Kong it’s a start. Now we can track her and this Dr Mark Johnson down with any luck we can get to her before they do any real damage” he winced internally at that he was no stranger to torture having been a recipient a few times in the line of duty.

Ward went still his knuckles white on the steering wheel, he had to get to her there was a very real possibility that she was being tortured at this very moment. Before when he’d been active it was easy to distract himself but it had now been almost 7 hours since she’d been taken and he had a whole flight to Hong Kong to contemplate what could be happening to her. He banged his hands off the steering wheel in sheer frustration they had all been right he’d needed to find evidence of where she was first but his heart was screaming at him to find her now.

He didn’t know what made him do it maybe it was the outburst, maybe it was his own worry for his friend but he clapped the suit on the shoulder “We’ll get her back Ward, we’ll get her back and then we’ll make the sons of bitches pay” he was deadly serious the leader in him coming out. He’d always been good at inspiring and calming his men even in warzones, Ward relaxed a little in the driver’s seat.

“You called me Ward” he cocked an eyebrow at the surfer in the passenger seat.

“Don’t get used to it Suit” he laughed.

Ward shook his head “To answer your earlier question as far as I know Simmons and Fitz are just friends” he volunteered.

“See was that so hard well that is interesting” he smiled to himself. It was clear that he and Agent Ward had their differences but Dex could tell he was a good guy and he was really worried about Skye. He reminded him of himself back in his military days before things had gone to shit. He had been Mr serious too, he was naturally talented and along with all the extra work he put in to his training he advanced through the ranks quickly. His guys had always been loyal to him, he knew they’d have followed him to Hell if he asked and in some cases he had to. Not all of them made it back alive that was an occupational hazard but he did his best to ensure no man was left behind. Even carrying one of his privates over his shoulder back to base when he’d been mortally wounded by the enemy he’d got an award for that one. Who knew that by the end of his career he would wish he’d never set a foot in that recruitment centre, he pushed those thoughts away he’d get Skye back with Ward and then he was gone back to the bar.

************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************

Ward headed for Coulsons office as soon as they got back leaving Dex in the lab to flirt with Simmons and hopefully track down Skye in between. He knocked on the door and waited till Coulson called him in; when he entered the office he spotted May in the corner they both looked severe. “Whats wrong?”

“Stark identified the man that Skye left with and it’s not good” Coulson informed him, he swallowed before he continued “Dr Mark Johnson does not exist the man that Skye left with is Andrew Grayson, he was the head of the faction that killed Skye’s parents. He went to ground after her parents murders, Hyde is his number two. Grant I will move heaven and earth to get her back but who knows how she will be when she returns” he took in his superiors over bright eyes and May’s almost sad expression.

“Have you told the others yet?” he asked if only to give himself time to take that in.

“No, not yet we only just got the news”

“Grant, I’m sorry you were right I should have told you sooner this is all my fault” Coulson put his head in his hands, May just stared straight ahead silently. Ward wasn’t going to argue with him because the fact was it was partially his fault but he wasn’t heartless he put a reassuring hand on Coulson shoulder.

“I’m going to find her, I’m going to bring her home and then I’ll kill them both” he stated.

May chose to ignore the last part of that statement and turned to Grant “Did you find anything out?”

“Yes, Dex was right they did bribe the guy at the desk to file a phony flight plan he confirmed that he overheard the pilot saying they were headed to Hong Kong. Dex thinks he can track her laptop, he seems optimistic that they will try and keep the ruse up at least until she contacts him he may be able to warn her when she does” up until they told him who her captor actually was he had had hope as well. That was gone now, he shuddered he felt cold spreading from his heart outwards, he felt like he’d never be warm again not until he held her in his arms. He turned away from his colleagues as he felt the lump in his throat rise and moisture prick his eyes. May approached him giving him an awkward hug before she turned to Coulson “I’ll set a flight plan for Hong Kong, with any luck our rising tide friend and FitzSimmons will have a location for us by the time we arrive” and with that she was gone.

Ward left Coulsons office he had planned to hit something but as he descended the stairs to the training area he sank onto the bottom step. His head falling into his hands and for the first time since his childhood he let the utter misery overtake him and he wept for her, for the girl she had been before all this had started and may never be again. He knew he would always love her no matter what she became or how she was affected; it was now inconceivable to him that she would come out of this unchanged. If the others saw from the lab they wisely left him to it he didn’t think he could bare their looks of pity at the moment. All he could do now was get to her as fast as humanly possible, he had to fix this, she had to be OK because he knew he wouldn’t survive losing her.


	11. The Cage

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Skye wakes up to find herself caged and alone in a secret lab, how will she cope at the mercy of the evil Dr Hyde and Andrew Grayson will she ever be the same again?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: This chapter contains references to violence and torture I did not want to gloss over Skye's situation so this is an adult story you have been warned.

She woke as if from a coma her body was heavy, her muscles stiff. Where was she? The last thing she remembered was taking off in her Godfathers private jet, they were headed for his home in Hong Kong but something must have gone wrong try as she might she could not remember what had lead her hear. Had Hyde found her? Where were Mark and Miles? Where they OK or where they dead? All these questions swirled round her head as she took in her surroundings. The room was cold and sterile a top of the range lab much like FitzSimmons on the bus. She was chained up in what could only be described as a cage her hands shackled in thick manacles above her head the strain in her shoulders was almost at breaking point. What had she done? How could she have been so stupid? Sure she was mad at Coulson but was this worth it? All she’d achieved was to apparently get herself caught by one of the most sadistic evil scientist guys she’d ever come across and although she’d not been with S.H.I.E.L.D long she’d come across a few.

Then her thoughts turned to the one person she’d avoided thinking about since she left the safety of the bus. Grant. God she needed him now but the chances of him saving her ass this time were slim to none, he’d know she was gone but even if he decided to chase down Dex and come after her he’d never find her here wherever here was. It was a hopeless case, she would likely never see him again and it was all her fault. Even as a child she’d been stubborn, always thought she knew best and look where it had landed her tied up and caged in a psycho’s lab with nothing more than her underwear to cover her. It was freezing as well her body shook with the cold perhaps this was one of his torture methods or maybe he was just a pervert. She had a sinking feeling that she was about to find out, footsteps echoed down a hallway and they were drawing closer. She tried to summon up everything Grant had ever told her regarding capture, tried to calm herself it was no good though she was terrified. Her heart was hammering against her ribs and when the double doors began to open at the opposite end of the room, she thought it would burst out of her chest.

There were two men one flipped on the lab lights the glare from the sudden burst of light temporarily blinded her; she must have been sat here in the dark for a while. When her eyes adjusted she was able to get a good look at the two men and her heart sank like a stone and came to rest in the pit of her stomach. One she had expected Dr Hyde was here of course he was, if she didn’t know what he was she might have thought him handsome. He was tall at least 6 feet with thick dark hair and dazzling blue eyes and a toned body (think Patrick Dempsey). He looked her up and down with an appreciative leer and then she remembered she was near enough naked. She couldn’t even cover her body and the smirk on his face told her he was enjoying her discomfort greatly. Oh God this was not going to end well, a hybrid she may be but she was new to all of this she had no idea how to use or control her powers and as far as she knew she wasn’t immune to electrocution even if she could summon her bolts she’d only end up hurting herself. Then man stood next to Hyde was none other than her supposed “Godfather” the man that had called himself Dr Mark Johnson, the man that she had risked everything to meet in the hopes of finding out the truth about who she was and who her parents had been. Tears pricked her eyes but she would not give them the satisfaction of seeing her cry. Coulson had been right the whole thing was a setup and she’d fallen for it hook, line and sinker  
.  
“Well hello there Miss Coulson it’s nice to see you are finally awake you had me worried, I thought that our new recruit had slipped you a little too much sedative” Hyde’s voice was full of mock concern.

God dammit Miles was in on it too he must have slipped her something when he’d handed her a drink on the plane. They were all in this together, Miles was everything Grant had ever said he was and it stung worse than anything else that had happened to her since the first time she met Hyde. It was Miles she had really trusted in all this when he said he’d wanted to help her she’d believed him. At one time in her life he’d been all she had and although she didn’t love him anywhere near as much as Grant she had loved him. What was worse is that Grant had told her on numerous occasions that the guy was no good that he was a snake in the grass. Yet she had trusted Miles over him she couldn’t stop the tear that slid down her cheek, Grant would be heartbroken when he found out. This wasn’t the first time she’d put her trust in Miles over Grant nor was it the first time he’d screwed her over.

“You were quite the wit last time we met even as I held a knife to your throat, not many women would show such bravery in the face of death. Yet now you have nothing to say, No snarky comment or witty quip to offer us? No why am I here or What do you want?” he chuckled at that it was a terrifying sound.

“Would you tell me the truth if I asked or would you just spout more lies?” she spat.

“Now now I know you must be upset but the deceit was necessary I tried to bring you in myself on two occasions but your uncle and his agents got in my way. Incidentally I am sorry about shooting you, you realise the bullet was not intended for you, you understand. I’m not a fan of guns I prefer a more hands on approach” he smiled at her but it did not touch his eyes “I shall have to improve my aim, but on the plus side I can see that you heal fast. I hope you don’t mind but I took the liberty of inspecting your leg myself barely a scratch. It’s very impressive” 

Her stomach roiled at that he’d undressed her, he’d put his hand on her while she’d be out cold. What else had he done to her? As if he’d read her mind Hyde interrupted that horrific thought “Don’t worry Skye your dignity is intact, I like my women responsive”

Grayson or Johnson who had remained silent up until now cut that sentence off “That’s enough Aiden, she’s not here for your amusement if I see any evidence that her dignity is not intact there will be consequences for all involved” his tone was deadly. Hyde seemed to take in what he said because he fell silent, it was obvious that the man that had called himself her guardian was running this show so it was him she chose to address.

“Why are you doing this to me? You said you wanted to help me, care for me” her voice cracked she tried to be strong but she couldn’t help the desperation that slipped past her defences. 

“Skye I do want to help you that is not a lie but once you saw my associate here you would have panicked and given that you can shatter adamantium precautions had to be taken. For our safety and yours if you can prove to me that we can trust you we may be able to look into a more comfortable arrangement” he reasoned.

“Why the fuck should I trust you, you lied to me, drugged me then locked me in a cage like an animal. I’m half naked for god’s sake in front of god damn pervert and you think I should prove that I’m trustworthy” this guy couldn’t be serious.

“Fair point my dear perhaps we should introduce ourselves properly lay it all out on the table I’m sure your uncle gave you a few details but as well all know Phil Coulson has a tenuous relationship with the truth” the two men laughed at that and really what could she say, he had lied to her but then so had they. “My name is Andrew Grayson and I started my career working with your father as a S.H.I.E.L.D scientist my area of expertise was Biochem and theoretical physics I was top of my class at Harvard and then the S.H.I.E.L.D academy like your young friends agents Fitz and Simmons I graduated early. Your father and I rose through the levels quickly until we were made joint heads of research and development. The director at the time tasked us with creating a serum like the one that gave Steve Rogers his abilities S.H.I.E.L.D and the military did not want to be beholden to Stark enterprises especially when the young and reckless Tony Stark took over. They wanted super soldiers and super agents of their own to deal with the ever increasing threats from both home grown supes and ones of a more alien nature. Try as we might we were unable to replicate Howard Starks success little did we know that your father held the key the whole time. In the June of 1989 you were born and although your parents were overjoyed your father could not hide his erratic and paranoid behaviour from me, we had been close friends since our Harvard days. One night when I was over for dinner I discovered the reason for his increasing anxiety. Your mother had been living on this planet for millennia she was able to hide her powers and her true nature from humanity but you were just a child. You were 3 years old you had wanted your favourite doll but by the time your father realised what would happen it was too late. I watched as the doll flew into your outstretched arms you hadn’t even called for it you’d just thought of it and it flew to you. I realised instantly that you were special that you had abilities no human should. Your mother and father confessed to me the whole story that night; I knew that you were the answer to all our problems. I tried to persuade your father to see sense all we would need to do was run a few tests use your DNA to create the serum. We wouldn’t need to harm you or reveal your identity to others but he would have none of it he planned to take you and run the next day. Your mother would bind your powers and you would flee the country together, I regret what happened next more than you know. That night I went to the then director of S.H.I.E.L.D and explained the whole situation to him it was my hope that he would be able to get your father to see reason. As it turned out that was not his intention and for that Skye I am truly sorry I see now that putting my trust in S.H.I.E.L.D was a grievous mistake” he had the gall to look sad at that before continuing on “the director sent one of his best assassins to dispose of your parents and retrieve you. The former he managed but your mother had hidden you, in the house it took time to locate you and thankfully before he could your uncle and Agent Melinda May intervened they dispatched the assassin and as we now know they wiped your records and dropped you off at St Agnes. The director denied it all when questioned by the council he claimed that I and my staff were acting outside of S.H.I.E.L.D that we were a rogue faction chasing fairy tales. Most of my colleagues were apprehended and tried but Aiden and I along with a few others were able to flee the country and set up shop here in Hong Kong. Johnson International is a highly successful company supplying bio weapons and technology to governments across the globe but we are still looking to finish what we started. What your father started all those years ago and you can help us; this does not need to be unpleasant for you Skye. You are a talented young lady especially in the field of computer science you would be an asset to my company. All I ask is that you allow me to run a few tests and help us complete this”

That was a lot to take in, she did not trust either of them and she had no intention of being anyone’s lab experiment. She knew her abilities were dangerous the few times she had wielded them she felt invincible but out of control. She’d been lucky that no-one had been killed she could easily have incinerated Coulson or Fitz even Ward had been dangerously close to her the last time she’d wielded her powers. Now they were asking her to let them replicate her abilities in others? Men and women who would probably be no better at controlling them than she was. She only seemed to be able to use them when she was angry and that was only her bolts she’d yet to use any other ability, maybe she didn’t have any others Grayson had said she was telekinetic but the guy was a serial liar. As for them being S.H.I.E.L.D.S scape goats yeah she could buy that back then but now? Fury always seemed like a good guy scary maybe but not bad he’d never hurt her or sent anyone after her and he could have. None of this made sense, she couldn’t see any way out of this her options were clear to her. She could either give them what they wanted and maybe they’d let her live or she could resist and they’d take what they wanted anyway. If she gave into them though they’d be in possession of one of the most powerful armies in the universe and did she really believe that their purpose was defence? She’d seen the women that Hyde had held captive, he experimented on them and tortured them until they could take no more and when he was done with them he dumped them in the trash like they were nothing.

“I won’t do it, I don’t care what you do to me I won’t help you hurt innocent people Grayson do you honestly expect me to believe this is all about defending earth?” she retorted.

“I had hoped this would be easy Skye, I had hoped you had more sense than your father you are the one at a disadvantage here girl. You don’t know where you are, you are locked in a cell that you have no hope of escaping even if you manage to relearn to use your telekinesis, your team have no idea where you are and believe me even if they figure it out they won’t be able to get to you. So I tell you what, I’m going to let Hyde here as you have so eloquently called him see if he can convince you to see reason. I’m not the bad guy here in time you will see that Hyde you have 12 hours alone with her why don’t you show Skye the hard way then we’ll see how defiant she really is” he gave Hyde a wicked smile before turning on his heel and leaving the room.

Skye shook this time with fear, she had never been tortured before sure she’d been threatened and even shot in the line of duty but full on tortured no. She knew that May, Coulson and Ward had all been tortured by the enemy at some point in their respective careers but they were all though as nails agents who had been trained to handle these situations, what was she? She was an orphan hacker, a rookie agent who didn’t pay enough attention in training and was never serious and an alien hybrid that couldn’t control her powers. What she was, was completely and utterly screwed, she had to endure 12 hours in a locked sell with a twisted psychopath that obviously got off on other peoples pain.

“Well now Skye you and me are going to have some fun” a cruel smile played on his handsome face and he winked at her. The sick son of a bitch actually winked at her.

“Is that what you call it you freak!” she spat.

“That wasn’t very nice now was it? You are a bad girl and where I come from we punish bad girls” he walked up to her cell and undid the lock, he slid the heavy iron door back and stepped in. She quivered as he stood in front of her, he drew back his hand and struck her across the face. The man had a powerful slap; pain blossomed across her left cheek as the blood rushed to the surface staining the area an angry red. “That was for your rudeness, you speak out of turn again and it will be twice as hard” his voice was cold and hard like a master addressing a slave. He walked around her so he was behind her; he yanked her back against his hard muscular chest. She didn’t feel comforted or protected like she did when Grant held her like this instead she felt sick and scared. She quivered against him, which seemed to please him he ran his hands drown her shoulders, across her stomach and then he wrapped her in an unyielding embrace. If it wasn’t for the fact that she was chained up in a cell to an outsider they might look like lovers. He pressed his lips to her neck before whispering in her ear “You’re very beautiful Skye, your skin is soft and smooth and unmarked...well for now” he chuckled against her ear. That sent shivers down her spine and not the good kind her blood ran cold. Grayson had said no-one was to violate her dignity but that had been before did that still stand now? Terror spread through her veins like poison “Do you like my hands on you? You naughty little girl what would that boyfriend of yours think?” he tutted at her.

“No I don’t like it you sick pervert, he’ll kill you, you know. He’ll kill you for hurting me” she wouldn’t give in she would defy him as long as she could. She wouldn’t give them what they wanted willingly. She knew that Grant would try to find her, that he’d come after her or maybe in her fear it was something she needed to tell herself. She had to give them time to find her had to endure whatever this monster through at her.

“Don’t get me wrong baby I like your defiance it’s refreshing the others always gave me what I wanted right off the back but you and me. You and me are going to play and you’re going to like it. You want to play hardball go right ahead because either way I win. You give in we get what we want, you don’t I still get what I want. You should also know that I’m counting on that boyfriend coming for you it’ll be so much fun. I’ll let him watch me play with you, let him see you scream, see you beg for death and then I’ll kill him right in front of you” he laughed at the thought, he had this all planned out. He’d played them all, he’d made sure he did his research Skye didn’t care what happened to her but he knew that she loved Grant. He knew the minute he threatened to hurt him she’d give in, she’d gone from praying he would come after her to hoping he would stay far away and forget all about her in the space of five minutes.  
Hyde took a knife out of the waistband of his jeans he stroked the flat edge of the hunting knife down the side of her face. “Now then Skye let’s see just how fast you heal. I don’t want to mark that beautiful face” he took the knife and slashed her skin open just above the waistline of her panties, the white lace turned red as blood flowed down from the wound. She cried out and tried to wriggle out of his grasp but he kept a tight hold on her. They both watched in awe as the deep cut began to knit itself back together in less than 60 seconds all that remained was an angry red line. “Well, well you do heal fast, that rules out knife play doesn’t it but don’t worry I have a better idea” he released her momentarily and strode across the lab to retrieve something. It was metal and circular.  
He held it up for her to see like it was a prized possession, she had no idea what it was but the fact that he was overjoyed about it was not good. “This wonderful object is of my own design; it generates a 2000 volt current that passes through the human body. Until now I haven’t really been able to use it as it would just kill an ordinary human but you dear Skye are special. Your body generates electrical current so it cannot kill you, you also heal at an alarming rate. This device will not bring death to you girl but it will hurt like hell” he snapped what she now realised was basically a metal collar around her neck. She did not beg she wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction, she braced herself.  
He walked to what he considered a safe distance from the cage and then he produced a remote. “Now are you sure you don’t just want to play nice?”  
“Fuck You” she spat.  
He triggered the collar her knees buckled instantly as pain erupted all over her body; it was like every nerve in her body had caught fire. She couldn’t think, all she could do was feel and scream. She screamed till her lungs burned with the effort, she screamed until her throat was so raw that her screams were just silent gasps. In all her life she had never known such pain or such hopelessness; he left her like that for hours. Eventually when her mind could take no more she blacked out, her body was too strong to give in and she cursed it. He was right the damn thing would not kill her but in that cage in that lab she found herself praying for a death that would not come. Despair set into her soul like rot and part of her died that day. The childlike naiveté that she had once possessed was gone along with her belief that all people had good in them. He was living proof that she was wrong he was evil to his very core, all the time she writhed in pain he just stood and watched her like a child at Xmas. The last thing she saw before the darkness claimed her was his sick twisted smile and she knew that if she made it out of here alive that that smile would haunt her for the rest of her life.  



	12. The Long Flight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The team find ways to pass the time on the flight to Hong Kong all trying to distract themselves from the reality of Skye's situation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi Guys 
> 
> Since I'm off and I have a new laptop yay, here is the next chapter we are back with Ward and the gang as they travel to Hong Kong.

“We got a hit!!” yelled Fitz bursting through the lab doors and heading to the stairs where Ward was still sat. Fitz took in his red eyes and melancholy demeanour and gave the normally stoic agent a sympathetic smile before repeating himself “Agent Ward we got a hit through Jarvis”

“Well what did you find?!” Grant was impatient he didn’t have time to beat around the bush, If Fitz was offended at his offhand tone he didn’t show it.

“Well actually it was Dex’s idea he said we should try running Grayson’s alias since it would be rather stupid to use his real name when he was a wanted criminal. Dr Mark Johnson owns Johnson International, their headquarters is in the old banking district in Hong Kong. They make bio weapons for military and non desirables the world over; they’d have to have state of the art labs to develop the tech. Since Skye is now ridiculously strong it’s the only place that would stand a chance of holding her. Once we were sure of that Dex hacked into their main server and accessed their security cameras now the room they took her too didn’t have cameras but he got a good shot of her in the hallway. They’d obviously sedated her but she’d have to be alive for them to get what they want. Maybe....maybe they’ll just keep her sedated and they won’t hurt her...” Fitz tailed off when he took in Wards pitying glance.

“Is it stupid to hope that they won’t hurt her Ward? Simmons seems quite convinced that they wouldn’t need to” he looked up at the older agent the hope rapidly disappearing from his eyes. Sometimes he forgot just how young Fitz and Simmons really were, who was he to destroy the ray of hope they were clinging to. Dex was smart he must be thinking the same as Ward but if he hadn’t corrected them than maybe Ward shouldn’t either. He sighed deeply before he replied “It’s not stupid Fitz, you should ignore me I’m just worried and I miss her that’s all this is”

“We’re going to get her back Grant, I swear we will me and Jem are going to work round the clock, and as sick as I am of Dex and Jemma’s incessant flirting I’m glad you brought him he’s been very useful” Fitz’s determination was back and although Ward didn’t share his positivity he was glad to see it.

“Well you should let Coulson and May know then” Fitz nodded and bounded up the stairs two at a time. It was late well past midnight he should get some rest but he knew if he went back to his bunk he’d just be reminded of her. She still had her own bunk but since they’d moved back onto the bus she’d chosen to sleep in his and slowly but surely her things had started to appear in his room. Her clothes were strewn on the floor, laptops and computer parts cluttered the sides, perfume and makeup had found its way to his bathroom. They were complete opposites he liked order and control everything had a place his bunk had been neat and tidy before she invaded it with her disorganised chaos. He’d complained animatedly at her messiness before but now she was gone and whatever he told Fitz he knew they were hurting her. Even as he stood here in the dark cargo hold he saw her face twisted in agony, heard her blood curdling screams. Even if he got her back she wouldn’t be who she was before, how could she be? Look at May after Bahrain .

No he wouldn’t sleep so instead he decided to do what he’d originally come down here to do. He didn’t even bother to wrap his hands before he attacked the bag, laying into it with brute force. All of the rage and anger he had tried to keep under wraps since he’d read her note was overtaking him, choking him, he couldn’t breathe for it. He had to let it out before it consumed him his punches were venomous and on target, the bag swung wildly from the force of his impacts. He was so focused on venting his anger that he did not see Dex approach.

“You’re going to pop a knuckle if you keep going at it like that” he said simply “You should at least have someone to steady the bag”.

“You offering?” he ground out.

Dex shrugged and positioned himself behind the punch bag “Might as well, it’s not like there’s much else to do on this tin can”

“Don’t let Coulson here you say that, this tin can is his pride and joy next to Lola. A gift from Fury for his service in the battle of New York.

Dex looked impressed at that “So Coulson fought in the battle of New York huh that’s pretty impressive”

Ward had to give it to Dex he was a strong guy he absorbed every impact that Ward through at the bag. Given his propensity for snark and sarcasm and his blatant hostility towards S.H.I.E.L.D and the military it was easy to forget that he was a highly decorated operative.” Hey Hacker why didn’t you come clean with FitzSimmons?”

“Come clean about what?” Ward wasn’t buying his confused tone.

“You know what, there’s no way that Hyde won’t hurt her” his voice cracked at the end.

Dex blew out a breath “I don’t know really, I guess it’s just they’re both so young and it doesn’t take a genius to realise that they have next to no field experience. When Jem suggested that maybe they’d just keep her sedated I just couldn’t do it. You and Me we’re realists and we’ve been here before maybe not with someone so important but with other team members. We know the score but they really don’t and I don’t think they can handle it no matter what they say, they’re still just kids” he reasoned.

Ward nodded his head “I didn’t tell them either”, Dex patted his shoulder.

“Working with those two it kind of takes me back you know, before I joined black op’s I was just a Major in the Marines. My job was to make sure my guys get the job done but when they’re joining up at 18 and their idea of a warzone comes from call of duty” he rolled his eyes “they need a good dose of reality but that comes from personal experience, sometimes no matter how much you want to protect them you can’t. You got to let them see for themselves and be there to pick up the pieces. I never imagined myself as anyone’s big brother but I guess when you’re in the middle of hell that’s what your unit become, family.”

“Is that why you look after those Rising Tide kids?”

“It’s part of it, I’ve never really had a convential

family, my mom left my dad when I was 10. She died not long after I enrolled...cancer. The core was the first real family I had apart from mom”

“What about your dad? Your file said he left you his bar”

“Yeah he did and that’s the only decent thing that drunk ass ever did for me” that effectively ended that conversation.

“So suit” Dex noticed Jemma approaching “if you really want to burn off some of that rage why don’t you try a real target? You box?”

“Er yeah but we’re not really set up for that here and we don’t have gloves or guards”

“You ever bare knuckle box?”

“No have you?”

“I’m half Irish suit it’s in the blood, come on. Unless you’re scared I’ll beat you of course”

“Careful Dex” piped up Jemma.

“Awww don’t worry baby I won’t hurt him, you better wrap your hands up though. You wouldn’t want to break your hand on my face now suit” Dex chided him, it was childish but this is exactly what the suit needed. He needed to let it all out because rage is only useful if you can use it to your advantage for most men it’s their downfall, it makes them rash and sloppy.

The two men wrapped up before squaring off against one another, they had agreed no head shots. Although this is precisely what Ward needed he knew Coulson would not approve at all, it was definitely against protocol to attack a consultant well mostly. He was sure Fury would make an exception in Tony Starks case. There was barely an inch difference in height and Simmons noticed that they were both of a very pleasing muscular stature. She could see why Skye would fall into bed with Ward that teamed with his obvious devotion to her made him a very attractive warrior. 

Dex was an equally handsome prospect and she couldn’t help licking her lips when he pulled his shirt over his head. He was built like a titan with numerous; she guessed they were military tattoos, decorating his upper arms, back and chest. Jemma had never been one for tattooed bad boys before maybe it was Skye’s bad girl shenanigans rubbing off on her. Here she was watching a display of pure testosterone fuelled power and instead of being horrified as any decent and educated human being should be, she was more than a little turned on.

They were evenly matched that was for sure, Fitz joined along with May halfway through. Jemma had explained to a shocked Fitz and May (whose expression never really changed, so if she was shocked or perturbed how was one to know) that this was all very friendly and the boys were just letting off some steam. At one point Ward would have the upper hand and then Dex, there was a lot of back and forth and some very humorous trash talk but after what seemed like hours the pair decided that neither of them were going to come out on top.

Although his anger at Coulson, Hyde, Greyson, S.H.I.E.L.D, Miles and even Skye herself (yes he was mad at her for not coming to him, going off on her own and getting herself caught. But his worry overshadowed his anger, there’d be time to be pissed at her when he got her back) had not abated fully he felt more in control of himself. Even if he hated to admit it Dex was good at reading people, good at getting them to work through their shit, he guessed that’s what made him a good CO. He really wanted to know what had happened to make the guy hate the military so much but he wisely avoided bringing it up.  
Instead he decided he needed a drink and when the rest of the team followed him up to the lounge area he didn’t object. He even laughed when Dex told him to pour him a man’s drink and cracked out Coulsons best whiskey. All this was a welcome distraction from their current task, they knew where she was now all they had to do was get there it was a long flight to Hong Kong at one time getting clearance would have been a cinch since it was an old British outpost but since it had been given back to the Chinese, well that made it harder not that it would stop them.

Coulson joined them when they were an hour from their proposed landing strip, Ward didn’t think he’d ever seen him look so sombre. For a few hours he’d let himself be distracted by some of Dex’s war stories which the two younger agents enjoyed immensely hanging onto every word. Whatever objections Fitz had had to Jemma and Dex’s shameless flirting he seemed to have gotten over it. The three of them were laughing and reminiscing about mishaps that FitzSimmons had gotten into at the academy, embarrassing high school stories and tales from Dex’s bar. He knew what the hacker was up to he was doing what Coulson would normally do, he was distracting them because whilst neither of them had wanted to burst their bubble about Skye. They knew full well what they were likely to find and the two youngsters where not ready for that. This whole experience would likely mess them up nearly as much as Skye. No-one was ready to see a victim of torture, sure they’d have read about it at the academy, seen it in movies, maybe they’d even had some resistance training but to see if for yourself it was almost worse than being tortured yourself.

In truth he wasn’t sure he was ready for this, it was exactly why he’d never had relationships with fellow agents before because of situations like this. If he were faced with the same decision again should he tell her how he felt or not knowing what he knew now would he have chosen differently? He knew the answer he’s not sure what it said about him but he knew he would still have chosen to be with her. He had to suck it up and do what he did best which was kick some serious ass, she’d once said he was damn good at saving her ass he hoped to every God in the universe though he still maintained that Thor was not a God that she was right.

“Landing in five” called may over the speaker system.

As if someone had flipped a switch the cheer went out of the room and everyone put on their game face.

“Right, War Room now we need to come up with a plan to get her back” stated Coulson.

This was it time to make those sons of bitches pay.


	13. The Rescue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ward and Dex are finally able to rescue Skye but will they all make it out alive and if they do will things ever be the same for the team again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi Everyone 
> 
> So this is perhaps the longest chapter I've written in this story and we still have a bit to go, I've tried to make it a roller coaster of a chapter because I think that's what a situation like this would be they're in the thick of it but we won't really see the fall out till subsequent chapters.

The team gathered around the centre console in the aptly named War Room, they’d spent the last few hours listening to Dex’s war stories and now they were about to embark on their own. Johnson International was heavily guarded they had top of the line security which was hard to neutralise but Dex was confident he would be able to override it. One of the more pressing issues was mapping out the facility so that they could locate where exactly Skye was being held. The other was that Grayson or Johnson whatever he was calling himself now had hired a particularly nasty private security firm called CERBERUS. Jarvis was currently running diagnostics on the building so that should sort the former but the latter could be a big problem.

As it happened Dex had had dealings with CERBERUS and its CEO before, he informed the group that they were one of the company’s the DOD had subbed work out too in Afghanistan. They were far from pleasant all of their employee’s were ex military but many had been discharged for violent conduct towards colleagues or brothers as Dex called them and prisoners. They were highly trained with very faulty moral compasses and he believed that they would not think twice about killing any one of them on the spot or worse. The or worse part had made agent Simmons shudder, so he wrapped a well muscled arm around her shoulder and pulled her into his side. He smiled down at her, he found himself feeling quite glad that she obviously didn’t know there were worse things than death; he hoped she never found out that there were.

“So what do you suggest Dex?” Coulson asked.

“What I’d like to suggest is that we send for some serious backup” he clocked Wards frown and mirrored it with one of his own “but that doesn’t seem like an option...I have old core buddies that would be more than happy to help kick some CEREBUS ass. It would take em too long to get here though and I doubt suit is willing to wait much longer?”

“You guessed right, I’m not sitting here when I know she’s so close and they’re.....” he tailed of when he saw Dex shake his head infinitesimally. Simmons and Fitz perked up at that and since neither May nor Coulson finished his sentence he guessed they were protecting the youngest members of their team as well. Not that it would do them any good in the long run; they’d soon see for themselves what had happened to Skye.

“Right well if that’s not an option then we need to go with stealth I suggest a two man team for retrieval which should probably be me and the suit. Overriding the system should be easier with proximity and if anything does go wrong it will be easier to improvise on the scene. I should be able to hack the security feed again so Fitz and Jem can be our eyes in the Sky you guys need to watch our six. You’ll also need to be clear and to the point no tech babble you got it?” they both nodded “Bad communication costs lives, you guys have the most important role in all of this because if we get caught it’s all over. That leaves agent May and agent Coulson for extraction/back up”.

“That sounds like an excellent plan to me, So I suggest we strike at shift change which Jarvis has just informed me is at 6am it’s 3am now so that gives us almost 3 hours to prepare. Ward, Dex agent May and I will get you as close as we can to the service entrance of the Johnson building from there it’s up to you. You know what’s at stake here Grant I know your answer to this question but Dex I have to ask. Are you sure you want to go through with this?”

Dex looked at Coulson with a mixture of determination and pride in his eyes “Sir I never left a man behind my entire career, I don’t intend to start now”

Coulson nodded he barely knew this man but he had developed a great deal of respect for the Major whatever his reasons for leaving the military he was still a leader. Perhaps when this was all over he’d offer Dex the chance to stay on, he knew that Agent Simmons at least would be pleased if he accepted.

“OK well me and the wonder twins here will work on the building layout see if we can locate some weak spots and escape routes. Then we should be good to go they all nodded and set about preparing for what they all knew would be a very dangerous mission”  
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Dex and FitzSimmons mapped out the building and deduced Skye’s location from the old video feed in record time. Fitz volunteered to bring the others up to speed leaving Dex and Simmons alone in the lab.

“Dex?”

“Yeah Hon”

“If I asked you a question would you tell me the truth?”

“Sure”

“Can you and Agent Ward do this alone? I mean there are so many things that could go wrong. What if you can’t override the security system? What if she’s not where we think she is? What if she’s badly hurt? What if Hyde’s in the room with her he’s truly awful Dex he really is and these CEREBUS people sound scary and I’m just so worried that one of you will be hurt or.....” she swallowed her voice was thick with anxiety and unshed tears.

He walked up to her standing so close their shoes touched, he cupped her face gently tilting it upwards so she was looking into his eyes. “Jem I can’t tell you nothing will go wrong or that no-one will get hurt because I don’t know what will happen but I do know that Suit is not only highly trained but also highly motivated failures not an option for him and it’s not for me either. I’ve been to a lot of horrible places and dealt with a lot of bad people and nearly every operation I’ve been on had a ton of what ifs? But you can’t think about that you just got to focus on the outcome you want” he smiled at her “What’s the best outcome?”

“That we get Skye back and everyone comes home safe but...”

“But nothing that’s our aim and I promise you that I will do everything I can to make sure that’s exactly what happens. Plus we got the smartest agent in S.H.I.E.L.D watching our backs so that’s got to count for something right?”

“Right” her voice was barely a whisper as a rosy blush infused her cheeks, all of a sudden she was very aware of his hands on her face and that they were standing oh so close. Her heart was pounding in her chest as her stomach fluttered with nerves. They were looking deep into each other’s eyes neither could look away, it was Dex that made the first move. His hands moved from her face tracing the outline of her body till they settled on her hips leaving Goosebumps in their wake. He pulled her flush against his hard, muscular body and pressed his lips to hers. He was gentle and tentative with her, his lips warm against hers not commanding or brutal as she had imagined and she had imagined in the short time they had known each other. Perhaps it was the heat of the moment, perhaps it was just that she needed to forget just for a little while, all the horrible things that had happened in the last few weeks. Whatever the reason she melted into the kiss and when his tongue sought entry she granted it willingly, enthusiastically even. She wound her arms around his neck and when he lifted her up and placed her on one of the metal lab tables, she gave a little moan of pleasure. Yes this was much better; she didn’t have to stretch up on to her tip toes now. He was an excellent kisser and when he moved a hand to massage the small of her back it sent delicious shivers up her spine, his other hand tangled into her long dark hair.

The temperature in the room was rising fast when all of a sudden they heard a cough in the doorway. They broke apart reluctantly and looked over to see Fitz standing there looking rather unimpressed and just like that the moment was gone.

“I can’t leave you two alone for five minutes” but he smiled as he said it. Simmons hopped down from the bench looking a little sheepish she straightened her shirt and combed through her hair with her fingers.

“Fitz we were just....”

“I don’t need to know Jem, its fine but we’re nearly ready so you better get your gear” he looked over at Dex who was sporting a roguish grin. Dex hugged Simmons from behind he put his lips to her ear and whispered so only she could hear “We’ll take later OK?, that was just in case” he kissed her cheek tenderly and with that he left the lab.

“You sure you know what you’re doing there Jem?” asked Fitz concerned he and Simmons had been best friends since the academy, he made up his mind a long time ago that he would not ruin a good thing.

“To be honest Fitz I don’t have a bloody clue” she looked bewildered it was so unlike her but it had just felt so right it still did but right now they had bigger things to worry about like making sure that Dex and Ward got to Skye and that everyone got back in one piece. Dex was right it was easier if she just focused on the outcome they all wanted, she grabbed what they needed from the lab and headed up to the war room ready to play big brother.

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They had made it to the service entrance of the Jonson building without incident, Agents May and Coulson were parked a few blocks away in the short bus. They were only here for extraction, once Ward and Dex were inside they were on their own.

Ward had had a lot of time to think whilst they waited, the three hours had felt like minutes to the others but to him it had been a lifetime. This whole experience had aged him, he felt like a different person. He was a different person stronger more determined even, he knew what would be necessary to get her back and he would get her back. If he knew Hyde like he thought he did he’d be in there with her. He at least would have to die but then he was far from sorry about that, he’d wanted him dead before but after this, now he really wanted the motherfucker dead preferably at his hands.

He didn’t care what that said about him right now, he’d tear the whole building down brick by brick to get her back and he’d annihilate anyone who stood in his way.

“You ready?” Dex asked.

Ward gave a curt nod, Dex tapped away on his laptop “Ok the alarm systems down, do you two copy?”

“We copy Dex” said Simmons through the com system.

“OK let’s do this” he produced a highly illegal device that looked like a credit card reader but what it actually did was hack into the keypad on the service door. The light changed from red to green and they were in, the Johnson building was a huge feat of modern architecture a 50 storey building with 5 underground levels and of course Skye was in a lab on the deepest level. At this time in the morning it should be deserted even security were not permitted down there in case they saw something they shouldn’t.

“Can you see us” Ward whispered.

“We’ve got you” replied Fitz “From here your clear all the way to the service elevator, to get to the lower levels you need an access code so Dex will have to override it”

They made their way quickly and quietly to the service elevator they had been right the place was deserted it was a Saturday which would help them further much less chance of bumping in to an innocent employee. Once inside it took Dex a while to crack the code but eventually he got it. They descended in silence both anxious about what waited for them when the doors opened.

The elevator pinged actually pinged as the doors opened Ward really hoped no-one was in earshot, the last thing they needed was for their location to be discovered before they even made it to the lab. Level 5 was a maze of narrow corridors and high tech labs, the whole place had a creepy vibe to it like an old dungeons or a morgue. Luckily for them Dex had a photographic memory, the guy was full of surprises just like Skye. He could see why they had become such good friends, maybe if she had relied on Dex for help instead of Miles they wouldn’t be here now.

“OK the entrance to the lab should be around this next corner as far as we can see the coast is clear, there’s another access panel that you’ll need to deal with” Fitz informed them.

“Right we got it” Ward whispered.

“Remember there’s no video feed in the lab so you’re on your own in there, we won’t be able to help you. Bring our girl home safe and please be careful...both of you” added Simmons. Fitz wrapped his arms around her in an effort to comfort his friend but in truth he shared her anxiety.

“Good work you two now stand by because we will need help getting out OK?” Dex tried to ignore the pure adrenaline pulsing through his veins. They needed a calming presence his men had been the same if he had seemed anxious or panicked in a combat situation it filtered through to them and panic in the ranks did no-one any good. It had been almost 7 years since his last mission and if he was honest he really had missed the buzz.

Ward scoped out the corridor it was clear as FitzSimmons had said it would be, they approached the lab doors in near silence and with caution. The control panel was incredibly complex it took Dex nearly 15 minutes and some highly dubious equipment to override it but he did and the locks opened with a loud click that echoed down the quiet corridor. They both listened with bated breath...nothing; a truly terrifying prospect struck Ward what if they were in the wrong place. This all seemed too easy he’d expected to come across some human resistance but nothing either Hyde or Anderson were incredibly stupid or this was a trap. Well if they were stupid enough to try and trap him then they would not live to regret it, he was getting Skye out of this pit no matter what they threw at him.

He’d always thought that relationships were a distraction he could not afford, that caring this much about a fellow agent (well almost agent in Skye’s case) would compromise him. He found however that it made him so much more focused he had so much vested in her safe return that there was no way he could fail. He was willing to do things he’d never have considered before his love for his rookie made him stronger. It was with this knowledge that he pushed open the doors and entered the cold and sterile lab, Dex shadowing him. They both scanned the room it was dark they had to give their eyes a moment to adjust to the light.  
Wards gaze fell on the Iron Cell at the far end of the room with its thick, unyielding bars it looked positively medieval and very out of place in such a modern building. He studied the cell closely, he could make out the outline of a young woman, her arms were chained above her head and she was slumped like she had passed out. He strode towards the cell, as the young woman’s shape came into clearer focus he could see that they were in the right place. He didn’t know whether to be relieved or horrified at seeing her here, she had been through hell that much was clear. Her body was covered in lightening shaped marks, she was battered and bruised, she was near enough naked and had what looked like a metal collar around her neck. “Oh God baby what the hell did he do to you” he whispered.

He examined the cell doors closely looking for an opening, his eyes alighted on an ancient looking lock. Damn it they needed a key “Can you pick this?” he shot at Dex. Dex strode over to the cell and took a good look at the lock “it looks tricky but I should be able to”. Like a boy scout or a career criminal he produced a set of lock picking tools.

“Do I even want to know why you have all this?”

“It’s probably best you don’t suit” Dex chose that moment to take a good luck at the girl he’d come to love as a kid sister and his breath caught in his throat. “Oh baby girl” he set to work with great speed after that they needed to get her out of here now. They could see the steady rise and fall of her small, broken body she was alive at least.

She stirred at the sound of the lock clicking open “please no more” her voice was barely a whisper but it was full of resigned despair and it broke Grants heart.

“Skye” he climbed into the cell with her and gently tried to shake her awake, but she would not open her eyes instead she screwed them tight it was clear that every word she rasped out cost her a great deal of effort.

“Just kill me” tears were escaping her closed eyes “please”

It was like a punch to the gut, it winded him he knew she didn’t yet realise that it was him that was holding her but hearing her say that she wanted to die...he swallowed hard. “Skye baby it’s me...its Grant I’ve come to take you home OK. I need you to open your eyes please baby just open your eyes”

“It’s not you, it’s just a trick you’re not here” she whimpered her voice was still raspy something was wrong other than the obvious.

“Skye look at me!”

“No, Go Away!”

“Skye for the love of God why can’t you just do what you’re told for once!”

Her eyes flew open at that, her vision was blurry but she looked up at him and slowly his face came into focus. “Robot?”

“Yeah it’s me baby”

It was him he’d come for her, hope swelled in her chest like a balloon. He was really here, he was cupping her face with those big strong hands she loved so much and someone else was here with him. Not wanting to get in the way Dex had hung back after he popped the lock but if they wanted to get her out of here they had to move fast.

“Sorry to interrupt lovebirds but if we wanna get out of here we need to hurry it up, Ward you’re going to have to come out of there so I can get her out of those manacles. Ward immediately made way for Dex who uncuffed Skye in record time.  
“Thank you” she whispered, she didn’t have the energy for anything else, he was about to scoop her up and pass her to Ward when some entered from a side room they thought had been empty.

“Well now what do we have here, Is this the boyfriend Skye? Oh look he brought a friend how nice. I have to say Agent Ward I’m rather disappointed it took you so long to find us poor Skye has been waiting for nearly 12 hours for her rescue” Hyde sneered.  
Skye shook and recoiled at the sound of his voice she was terrified of him that much was clear. Nobody answered him the two men just glared and stood in silence.

“And who is your friend? I don’t believe I’ve had the pleasure”

“That’s none of your fucking business” Dex spat.

Another man came out of the shadows both men recognised his voice and fixed the little rat with stares of pure hatred, how could he do this to Skye. “That would be Major Dex O’Neil he was a black ops specialist for the Marine Core, he’s now one of the top players for the Rising Tide. Either Miles Lydon had not registered the death glares that had been sent his way or he just didn’t care, any good that might have been there had been extinguished the minute Hyde had recruited him. He didn’t even flinch when his eyes fell on Skye and yet he’d professed to love her? Ward had never understood what Skye had seen in Lydon, Skye was an idealist she believed in freedom of information and the rights of the people. Miles on the other hand had always been out for himself, Ward seriously doubted that he’d only ever sold information once this guy was a piece of work. He was seriously going to enjoy this, Dex could protect Skye get her out if needs be but one way or another he was taking these two down.

“A Major hmmm, didn’t you say your old mentor was called Dex?” asked Hyde in a mildly conversational tone.

“Yeah that’s him”

“Isn’t it odd then that he would be here helping S.H.I.E.L.D, don’t they stand for everything your against?” he asked Dex.

“In this case I made an exception, you mess with my family you mess with me and you really shouldn’t have done that. Just ask the last guy that tried, you might have to speak up though I doubt he’d hear you where he is now” the smile he shot Hyde was venomous, this prick had really hurt Skye and if Ward didn’t make him pay, he would.

“Very amusing I’m sure you are very capable Major I’d ask you to join us here at Johnson International when Miles here mentioned you I did my research. You’d be a very valuable asset especially since you managed to hack the security system that according to my consultant here should have been unhackable, but unlike him you’re a man of honour you’d never accept would you”

“Not even when hell freezes over”

While Dex had kept Hyde talking Ward was able to come up behind Miles, he drew his side arm and wrapped a thick muscular arm around the scrawny hacker’s neck. He pointed the glock at his temple “One false move and I’ll kill you both”

“Oh please agent Ward don’t be so ridiculous do you really expect me to believe that an upstanding agent such as yourself would kill an unarmed man?” his tone was mocking he either thought Ward incapable of such callousness or he didn’t give a shit if Miles lived or died. Ward would put money on the latter.

“Try Me” Ward spat “because I’m taking her back with me no matter what I have to do, you see we’re off book and S.H.I.E.L.D no longer cares whether you live or die. So if you wind up dead they really won’t care” Grant barely recognised his own voice it was cold and detached.

“Well by all means then kill him, put a bullet in his brain he’s of no further use to me anyway you’d be saving me a job” he found this amusing god this guy was a sick bastard.

Miles eyes widened at that, in his arrogance he’d believed he was indispensable to Anderson and Hyde. That Hyde was calling Wards bluff but now he wasn’t so sure, here he was with a gun to his head his only hope now was that Ward would spare him for Skye’s sake.

“You don’t want to kill me Ward, she’ll never forgive you. You know she loves me too that’s why she ran off to warn me before and that’s why she trusted me to help her with her parents. I didn’t know what they’d do to her” his begging had the opposite effect to the one he intended. Miles was arrogant but not stupid he knew full well the danger he was putting Skye in by handing her over to these freaks and he did it anyway. 

Only Dex registered the change in Ward, Skye had been watching the exchange in silence slumped in her cell. Dex took his jacket and wrapped it around her shoulders, kneeling down beside her he pulled her into a tight embrace hiding her face so she couldn’t see what was about to happen. “Don’t Look” he whispered.

“Oh stop your grovelling Miles he’s not going to kill you, it’s all talk. You’re all the same with your morals and your high handed attitudes. You think you own the damn world that you can horde all the supes and alien technology for yourselves while telling the rest of us it’s too dangerous for us but you do nothing with it. Instead of harnessing their power like you should you let them roam free, when they could be of use to us. You don’t build an army when the war has begun; you build up an arsenal so formidable that no-one dare pick the fight. Sacrifices have to be made if we want to secure earths future, S.H.I.E.L.D is finished, the people are already turning on you and when Johnson International can provide earths leaders with an army of super soldiers the avengers will become obsolete. Then where will you be? Even if you succeed in rescuing your precious Skye now, she’ll never be safe” it was clear Hyde didn’t think him capable of such brutality.

“Right now I really don’t care about S.H.I.E.L.D or its future, I only care about her” Ward took his arm from around Miles neck, Hyde gave him a knowing smile which quickly turned to shock. Ward placed both his hands at either side of his captives head and with a sharp twist he snapped his neck before the young man could even struggle he was gone. It was quick and painless which was more than the little traitor deserved Ward doubted Hyde would have shown him such mercy.

“Well it appears I was wrong after all now doesn’t it, poor Miles but it changes nothing you two are not leaving here with her. Lydon was an easy target but me, well you remember how things went down last time” he laughed actually laughed.

“One of us is” Ward said simply he hoped Dex picked up on the cue, he chanced a glance and saw that he had. Grant nodded at him before lunging at Hyde, his fist connected with the bastard’s skull knocking him backwards but not out still it was enough of a distraction for Dex to scoop Skye up and run he was out of the door before Hyde recovered himself. When he did he was enraged he pressed a few buttons on what looked like a keypad on the wall before Ward could stop him. The alarm system blared no doubt the sound would send all security personnel running for this room, he hoped to God that Dex was faster than they were. Before Hyde could inform any of them what the security breech was he was on him again.

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Dex sped out of the lab as fast as his legs could carry him as soon as he was out of the doors he had FitzSimmons in his ears asking him a million questions all at once. “Shhhhh guys you need to focus we have to get out of here, I don’t have long before every security guard comes running”

“But where’s Ward?” Fitz was agitated.

“He’s doing what he has to do, the suit can take care of himself OK but Skye she needs our help she’s in bad shape. You need to focus, once she’s safe then we can worry about Ward if he’s not out in 20 minutes I’ll go back for him” he never thought he’d be risking his neck for a suit but he knew he would go back he wasn’t just trying to appease the scientists.

He was at the elevator when he heard the alarm system trigger, he gently placed Skye in the corner of the elevator and set to work on the control panel he found when their lives were at stake he worked much quicker and in what seemed like hours but was in actual fact only a few moments the service elevator was rising.   
He prayed that the security team would use the other bank of elevators and not the freight elevator they were now in because how the hell he would face off against god knows how many CERBERUS agents with a barely conscious Skye he didn’t know. Super powers or not looking at her now she would be no match for ex-military thugs, he scooped her back up and waited with bated breath to see what would be waiting for them in that tiny corridor. Skye whimpered in his arms “shhhh baby girl we’re almost there, you’re going to be OK” he tightened his grip on her.

“Where’s Ward” there was seriously something wrong with her voice it was raspy and every word cost her a great deal of effort. Simmons would look at her when they got back to the tin can she’d be OK eventually not like...he pushed the thought away.

“He’ll be here soon hon” he soothed she didn’t look convinced but she didn’t have time to push as the doors sprang open.

“Dex you’re clear to the service door, the security staff took the stairs there were six of them they all look pretty damn scary. I know Wards super agent and all but...”

“Fitz he’ll handle it, once we’re out you two watch the monitors for him we won’t leave without him OK”

“OK” they chimed in unison.

He ran down the corridor reaching the service door there was no need to override the keypad this time it was only needed for the outside. He pushed down on the bar with one hand supporting Skye’s weight with the other; the cool morning air hit his face as he stepped out into a near abandoned parking lot. Skye shivered against him and they both jumped when shutters slammed down shutting off all the exits they were out but Ward was trapped inside with guns for hire and a psychopath. This was not good, he could raise the shutters he knew it but Ward would have to fight his way out on his own.

He signalled to agents Coulson and May and the screeching of tires signalled their arrival, running to the van he was greeted by Coulson throwing open the sliding door. He climbed in gently placing Skye in one of seats.

“Where’s agent Ward?” asked Coulson worried.

“We hit a snag, he had to distract Hyde so I could get Skye out the last I saw he was still in the lab they were holding her in. Hyde must have triggered the security system because the alarms started blaring we only just made it out before the shutters came down. FitzSimmons said there were six guys headed down there, if he can fight his way out then I can get the shutters open so we can get him out. Skye’s pretty banged up but she doesn’t need urgent attention we got time.  
“Please help him” Skye rasped, her breathing was ragged and laboured but her eyes were pleading. “This is all my fault, please don’t let him die” she closed her eyes as tears began to fall. Coulson reached out and took his nieces hand, squeezing her fingers reassuringly.

“Skye a lot of people are to blame for what has happened these last few days but you are not one of them. This is not your fault if I had listened to Melinda and just told you the truth none of this would have happened. We will do everything we can to help Grant, we won’t let him die” Phil rarely made such promises but it’s what she needed to hear. Come on Grant he thought.

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He didn’t pull out his gun or the knife that was strapped to his ankle; instead Grant Ward chose a more hands on approach. This is what he had wanted since Hyde had first laid his hands on Skye and now he’d got his wish. He wouldn’t show Hyde the mercy he had shown to Miles he would make him suffer like he had made Skye suffer. He was no longer concerned about Skye he knew she was safe, he’d heard Dex and FitzSimmons through the com system. He also knew that six guns for hire were on their way down to the lab but he wasn’t worried she was safe and he’d faced worse odds before.

This is what Ward excelled at he was a specialist trained to be the whole solution, a lone wolf. His love for Skye had made him stronger, had changed him but there was no denying it was easier to do what was necessary when he was alone. Ever since he’d touched that berserker staff he’d fought to contain the rage he felt but now he welcomed it, embraced it. He felt truly invincible as he laid into Hyde, the psycho put up a good fight but he was no match for Grant not when he was like this and he was beginning to realise it. Grant could see him scoping out the exits but he wasn’t going to let him get away this time, even if he felt like sparing the bastard which he didn’t he knew people like this he’d dealt with them before they were relentless. Skye would never be safe he would come after her again and again until she was back in his grasp this had to end now.

“Give it up agent Ward, if you surrender now I might even let you live” he spat blood out as he said it and scrubbed his hand across his battered face. Purplish bruises were starting to form where Wards fists had connected with his body.

“Even if I was stupid enough to believe you, you’d never leave her alone. Don’t you get it I don’t care if I die she’s safe that’s all that matters as long as I take you down with me she has a fighting chance”.

“Is that what you really believe agent Ward that if I die your precious love will be safe? Are you really so naive? That girl will never be safe you can kill me and the entirety of my order and she still won’t be safe. Who do you think ordered us to pursue this anyway it was S.H.I.E.L.D they’ve always wanted this no matter what they say in public. Why do you think Fury is so intent on getting hold of my files? They want our research not to contain it but to control it like they did with the tesseract. There’s no happy ending for Skye the girl was born to die and you my young friend will die with her and so will anyone else who tries to protect her. Unless of course she gets a handle on those powers but it will change her along with her little experience here who knows how unstable she may become” he smiled goading Ward buying time and Ward knew it.

He pulled the knife from his leg it was a sharp hunting knife and when he shoved it into Hyde’s gut it sliced through his flesh like butter. Hyde gave a gasp of surprise as bright red blood covered Grants hand; he ignored the warm liquid his other hand was on Hyde’s shoulder he made sure he was close enough to the man’s ear so he could hear every word “I know what I have to do to protect my girl Hyde, I will die for her if I have to but that’s not going to be today” he pulled the knife out and slammed it into the back of Hyde’s neck severing his spinal cord. Just like that the man that had blighted his and Skye’s lives was gone but he was right he would not be the last he still had Anderson to deal with possibly even S.H.I.E.L.D itself.

He heard shouts from the corridor and was reminded that there were still six guards between him and the exit. As their footsteps approached he braced himself for a hell of a fight but one way or another he had to try and get back to Skye.  
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“He’s out” cried Fitz who was following Ward on the monitors not quite believing what he was seeing, he and Simmons had seen six of the biggest guys they’d ever seen enter that lab. They waited a few seconds to establish that he was not being followed before speaking again “It looks like he’s alone but the exits are blocked and he’ll need access codes to get back up to the service entrance”.

“The elevator shouldn’t be an issue, I gave suit a little invention of mine it should get him back up to the service corridor” Dex assured them.

“Then why the bloody hell didn’t you use it the first time you went down” Simmons snapped.

“Because I don’t believe in short cuts unless absolutely necessary it makes you lazy, got to keep my skills sharp hon” he reasoned.

Simmons was not impressed she understood keeping ones skills sharp but she did not appreciate standing around the centre console racked with worry waiting for him to hack an access panel and taking a good while when he had a box that could do the job in seconds. Now was not the time to be ticked off though they still had to help Ward and since Skye was worse for wear that task fell to Dex. His little black box had worked a treat, Ward was almost out when he realised his exit had been blocked.

“Don’t worry agent Ward Dex is working on the shutters” Simmons assured him.

“Well tell the hacker to hurry up, it won’t be long till someone realises something’s wrong”

“You do realise I can hear you suit, glad to see you made it”

“Thanks but it’ll be no good if I get caught now”

“Hold on I’m almost done...that’s it they should be coming up now”

The shutters gave a loud groan as they began to rise despite his earlier reservations Grant was more than a little relieved to have Dex in his corner.” They’re up I’m coming out now”

He spotted the short bus immediately and ran full pelt towards his team mates he reached the van just as the service door burst open and more of the CEREBUS agents spilled out of the building. Dex hauled him into the van and May stepped on it before they’d even closed the door, Coulson made sure that Fitz and Simmons were aware that they would need to make a speedy departure. They were obviously being followed as May was swerving all over the place trying to lose their pursuers, they were all on edge they weren’t home and dry yet.

Ward looked over at Skye who once she had assured herself that he was safe had closed her eyes, it was obvious that she was exhausted and in a great deal of pain she still had that hideous collar around her neck. He hoped that Dex or Fitzsimmons could remove it quickly when they got back to the bus. He moved to sit by her and took her hand in his squeezing it tightly “Skye” she wouldn’t meet his eyes “Skye look at me” slowly she complied fresh tears welled in her chocolate brown eyes they were the colour he’d grown to love not a fleck of that frightening blue shone in them but they were broken, she had been broken. He detected something else shame maybe or guilt?

“I’m sorry” she rasped

“For what?”

“For everything, you should have left me there it’s what I deserve” tears were sliding thick and fast down her cheeks.

“Skye that’s not true, you didn’t deserve any of this OK no matter what you did” he decided right there and then that he wasn’t angry with her anymore. It would help nothing she’d clearly suffered enough; he couldn’t bear to hurt her with his anger. “I’m not mad at you, I blame a lot of people for this but not you. I’m just so relieved you’re back with me” he leaned over and kissed her head, and wrapping his arms around her he pulled her into his lap. She clung to him so tightly like she thought he would disappear at any moment, she really had not expected that she would ever get out of that place alive or that Grant would be the one to save her.

“Thank you” she whispered.

They were on the air strip, May was still driving like a rally driver when she zoomed up the ramp of the bus. As soon as they were parked up she ran for the cock pit not even bothering to shout the usual “wheels up in 5”. Coulson secured the cargo hold and then turned to Ward “I suggest you let Simmons check her over, I need to talk to Fury” and with that he was off.

Skye was still crying silently but this was better than the horrified silence of before she tried a few times to speak and failed. It was almost like she couldn’t get the words out which was something that very rarely happened, eventually she managed to whisper “maybe you should take me back to my bunk” in all the hubbub of the last 48 hours Ward had forgotten about Skye’s escape from the bus and apparently so had FitzSimmons but it was clear that Skye hadn’t.

He breathed out a sigh “I’m sure they’ll cut you a break, they didn’t even mention it after we found your note. I’ll stay with you the whole time” he reassured her. Her nerves didn’t ease but she didn’t object any further, he laid her gently on the lab table that Simmons had prepared. The two scientists approached her slowly and began to carry out an array of tests, when it came to the full physical Simmons asked Ward and Fitz to leave but when Skye blanched at the very idea and it was obvious that she was becoming very agitated, Simmons relented and only made Fitz leave.

Ward sat by her side throughout the whole ordeal and winced when every new injury was revealed; due to her advanced healing the injuries that would have been fatal in any normal person had just hurt like hell. She was left with an array of scars that spidered across her body like lightning strikes. Jemma couldn’t tell them if these would be permanent or not because she knew very little about the device that had caused them. Other than that and a few cuts and bruises she appeared to be fine or that was the theory until Simmons scanned her internally.

“Oh God” Jemma exclaimed.

“What is it?” Grant demanded.

“Well...I think it may be easier if you take a look yourself” Jemma’s voice caught against a sob. Skye just closed her eyes she already knew what he would see; she’d lived through it after all. She tried not to let her mind take her back there but it was impossible to push the memories away they were still too real, too raw. She saw his face that smile, heard his laugh, felt each crack of bone, each blow and shock that he laid on her body but worse was the fear that it hadn’t really ended. That she wasn’t really here on the bus that she would wake up on the cold hard floor of that cell and this was just another hallucination brought on by the pain.

Grant walked over and examined the screen that Jemma was staring at aghast and he gasped as he took in the extent of the damage Hyde had done. How anyone could survive this was beyond him nearly every bone showed signs of fracture, he’d literally broken every bone in her body that he physically could. No wonder she’d wanted to die and then it hit him like a freight train if it wasn’t for the fact that Skye was a Hybrid she would be dead. He couldn’t stop the tear that fell, that bastard. He was lucky that he didn’t know what had been done to Skye otherwise...well he wouldn’t go easy on Anderson when he found him. He looked down at his hands the hands he’d taken eight lives with, they were still covered in blood and although he felt regret for some he knew now he would never regret Hyde.

“Will she be OK?” he asked kindly he could see that Simmons was in a great deal of distress he doubted she remembered that Skye had shot her with the night night gun at all now.

“Well physically yes I think so, she’ll be a little sore but she’s healing well. We’ll have to keep an eye but hopefully we won’t have to reset any of her bones” he winced at that, Skye gave no indication she had heard what Simmons had said she was far away and Grant could guess where.

“What about her voice?”

“Well with that...I’m not sure I think she’ll need to see a specialist, it looks like her vocal chords were damaged. It should heal like her other injuries but if it was caused by this” Simmons looked at the metal collar with distaste “then there’s a chance it could be permanent”

“I don’t think it was the collar” Skye said in a whisper.

“You don’t? Can you tell me what it was? It may help”

“It was me when he...when he used it...it hurt so much that I screamed and I couldn’t stop until my voice wouldn’t work properly” Skye’s face went ashen at the memory in a second Grant was by her side holding her tight, brushing away the fresh tears.

“So you screamed so much that you damaged your vocal chords?!” Jemma turned away, she couldn’t bear the thought. Sure they’d dealt with some rather mean people before but this? This was pure evil, how could someone do that to another human being she tried and failed to stem the tide of tears. When she realised that was a losing battle she excused herself and left the lab.  
**************************************************************************************************************************************************************************  
Dex was waiting patiently outside for news Simmons had placed curtains in front of the doors to give Skye some privacy so he really had no idea what was going on. Other than Fitz had been sent out when Jem began the physical exam, he saw her approach she was sobbing almost uncontrollably. He knew it was bad when he’d heard Skye beg the suit to kill her but....”That bad?” he asked gently.

She nodded unable to form a coherent sentence she hugged him tightly and he wrapped his arms around her cradling her to his chest as she wept for her friend. After what seemed like an age she found her voice “How could he?” she looked up at him through tear stained lashes but he had no answers for her at 35 he’d come across more maniacs than any person should. He’d even been tortured himself once or twice but he still couldn’t explain how people could be so cruel.

“I wish I could tell you hon, I really do but the truth is I don’t know” he said sadly.

“How do you deal with it, how do you stop feeling the pain?”

“I don’t think you do Jem or at least I never did, there’s more to being a good soldier than taking orders you have to feel, you have to have compassion and empathy because if you don’t how can you truly believe in what you’re fighting for?” he stroked her wet cheek.

“I can’t stand to be in that room, to look at what he did. She’s my friend what does that say about me?” she sounded heartbroken.  
“That your human, it doesn’t make you a bad person. I’d be more worried if you weren’t affected can I tell you something?”

“Yeah”

“The first time I saw a victim of torture was in Afghanistan the Taliban had kidnapped some reporters, it was our job to go in and rescue them. The mission was a success but in the heat of the moment when the adrenalins coursing through you, you don’t really take in what’s happened to them. All I did was focus on getting them back safe, when we got them back to base and I saw what had been done to them I hurled” Jemma stroked his bicep sympathetically. He swallowed past the lump in his throat and smiled down at her “So I’d say you’re dealing better than me, Jemma you’re stronger than you think you are because I know that in a moment you’ll go back in there because Skye needs you. That makes you one of the strongest people I know” he really meant it as well. She hugged him tightly.

“Thank You” she whispered.

“Anytime hon” slowly she released him, wiped away her tears and walked back into the lab, Dex was right Skye needed her now she wouldn’t let her down. Despite the little incident with the night night gun she knew that Skye would always be there for her, In fact in light of recent events she was quite prepared never to mention the incident again.


	14. The Aftermath

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Skye and the team struggle to cope with the aftermath of her ordeal but can a conversation with Dex help her to find herself again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So a much shorter chapter this time but I didn’t want to just skip over Skye’s recovery or how she was affected and still will be affected by what has happened to her. We’ll be back into the thick of it in the next chapter as the team work to track down Anderson.

If Ward had thought Skye’s previous nightmares had been bad then these were horrific, she would thrash and scream, she’d cry out his name, shake and cry. He’d never felt so helpless all he could do was rock and soothe her until she drifted back into fitful sleep. The broken nights meant that neither of them was getting much sleep and her nightmares were not the only symptoms of her time with Hyde.

The normally bright, smart mouthed, bubbly young agent in training was a nervous wreck she’d jump at every loud noise, flinch if she was startled, she was withdrawn often retreating to the SUV to hide. Her physical injury’s had healed well she was still left with the lightening shaped scars and it was unclear if her vocal chords would ever fully heal but her bone fractures had healed nicely. Establishing all this however had been rather difficult Simmons assumed it was Skye’s state of shock that had made her so compliant the first day she was back on the bus because once she had had time to relive her hellish experience. She point blank refused to enter the lab under any circumstances and if Jemma tried to approach her with a needle or any kind of sharp implement she did so at her own peril. The young hacker’s fear of medical implements was so imbedded into her psyche that the anxiety it caused triggered her abilities which had resulted in the loss of another very expensive piece of tech.

In the end Simmons gave up she was grumbling to Dex who since he had agreed to stay on until Anderson was caught and dealt with spent much of his time “helping” her in the lab. He was a genuinely very efficient assistant and Fitz was now so used to his presence that he hardly complained about it anymore. “Well at least she’s healed up now Jem, so you really don’t need to risk sticking her anymore” he reasoned.

“Thank Goodness, though Fitz was not pleased, that medical scanner took months of development and now it’s no more than a pile of dust. If you add that to the centrifuge she blew up a couple of weeks ago...well this lab has taken a hammering” she shook her head, she knew that Skye hadn’t meant to nearly blow her up but it was quite frightening when she went off like that.

“She’ll get better at controlling it, she’s only been active for a week or so most supes take months if not years to get a handle on their gifts and from what Coulson says she’s more gifted than most. Maybe we should all refrain from poking her with sharp objects from now on” he smiled that roguish grin that she and she was sure many other women found irresistible. 

“That was rather silly of me, I just wanted to make sure we were thorough that’s all. I didn’t mean to frighten her I just didn’t think, she won’t open up not even to agent Ward we have no idea what he did to her other than the broken bones, electrocution and damaged vocal chords” she swallowed hard the fact that there obviously was more was something that Jemma found very hard to deal with and she hadn’t even experienced it. It was impossible to imagine what Skye must feel; she wanted to be there for her friend she just didn’t know how.

“She will Jem, we just have to give her time and space to work through it that’s all. The best thing we can do for her at the moment is to track this Anderson down after what suit did to Hyde we may have our work cut out. If he has any sense he’ll have gone off radar” they’d been working hard to track down the leader of Hyde’s order as he called it but so far their searches had proved fruitless. Even with outside help from Stark and Jarvis, it had been rather amusing to watch the banter between Dex and Stark though they were like old poker buddies, even Skye had managed a snicker at the pair of them.

“Well it could take weeks before we find him are you sure you can stand to be cooped up in this tin can with a bunch of suits for that long?” she was teasing.  
“The bar is in good hands and being cooped up in here does have its benefits” he pulled her into his arms so that she had her back to his firm chest.

“Oh really, like What?”

“Like this” he gently moved her long dark hair aside and his lips found the tender flesh or her neck. His kisses were feather light as he kissed his way from the base up to her earlobe and when he took it into his mouth; she let out a breathy moan. God that felt good, she melted into his embrace a willing prisoner of his will.

“Hmmm yes well...” she was far too distracted by his wandering hands to form a coherent response. They’d started as a warm band around her waist but slowly they’d crept upwards towards the swell of her breasts. She squirmed as his thumbs brushed over her taut nipples through the material of her shirt.

“Oh lord, not in here I mean really? This is a lab for crying out loud I don’t want to have to disinfect every surface again!” Fitz was stood in the doorway with his hands on his hips; they’d jumped apart like naughty school kids at the sound of his voice.

“Your timing sucks man” Dex grumbled before kissing Simmons lightly on the lips and departing for the lounge.

Fitz turned to his best friend “Really Jemma, can you two try and keep your hands to yourselves” he moaned.

“Oh lighten up Fitz” she giggled.

*****************************************************************************************************************************************************

Sleep was an impossible task these days her dreams were plagued by awful memories of her time at Johnson International. She still expected to wake up on the cold, hard floor of that cell with his face looming over her, she’d come to dread the night time hours. She sat up in bed and looked down at a sleeping Grant; he looked much younger when he slept. There was no trace of worry or concern on his face, an expression he seemed to wear a lot just lately she traced a finger along his brow he didn’t even stir. She knew her night terrors had been taking there toll on him too, she would have offered to sleep in her own bunk if she could bear the thought of being away from him. She spent much of her time avoiding the others especially Simmons she knew they meant well but she was just so volatile that she was afraid of hurting one of them.

She’d nearly incinerated Jemma the other day; in her defence the young scientist had been trying to stick her with a very sharp needle. Her mind had a nasty habit of playing tricks on her she’d seen his face instead of her friends and panicked, she’d felt awful afterwards and only Grant was able to soothe her. He was the only person she trusted herself to be around, she loved him far too much to hurt him and it was almost like her body knew this. When she was around him she felt safe, protected her body would visibly relax like it sensed his presence but even he couldn’t chase away the memories of that place.

She felt like she’d left herself in that cell because this person that she was now wasn’t who she had been, she was a shadow of her former self. She was afraid all the time, every loud noise, every sudden movement was a threat it was like she was on constant alert watching and waiting for Hyde to return. She knew he was dead Grant had killed him and he wasn’t coming back but her mind could not yet register that fact. It was Anderson she should be worried about now not Hyde.  
She kissed her slumbering protector on the forehead and got up from the bed, he deserved a few hours of rest. Just because she couldn’t sleep didn’t mean he shouldn’t, when she thought about all the things he had done for her it chocked her up inside. He loved her so much he had killed for her, had sacrificed a part of his soul to get her back. After all those years of rejection she’d finally found someone who accepted her for the person she was or at least the person she had been. She hoped someday in the future when all of this was over that she could get back to the girl he’d kidnapped from her van. A small smile graced her lips when she thought about how far they’d come from that first meeting.

As quietly as she could manage she left his bunk and padded softly through the silent plane in search of the only person apart from Grant that she felt comfortable around. She found him in the lounge area a laptop propped on his lap, he was so engrossed in what he was doing that she thought she’d managed to sneak up on him.

“What’s up baby girl?” he looked up from the screen, damn she should have known. It was impossible to sneak up on Dex the guy had ears like a dog.

“Can I come sit with you for a while?” she asked, she knew he’d be up he’d always been a night owl, of course the night was always the best time for clandestine activity.

“Course hon, I was just checking in with Sam”

“How is the bar?” she knew he must miss it, in all the time she’d lived in Austen she didn’t remember him leaving it for more than a day not even to go on vacation.

“Well the kids not burnt it to the ground yet so I guess it’s OK” he smiled “How about you baby girl what’s got you wandering the tin can at this time of night?” he had his suspicions but he knew that she had to open up in her own time. Katherine had been the same, he shook himself mentally he shouldn’t go there, shouldn’t relive such painful memories.

“Couldn’t sleep, I didn’t want to wake him. He’s barely slept since we got back I wanted to let him get some proper rest” she sat beside the closest person she had to a brother and he wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

“It’ll get better you know you just have to give yourself time and talk to him when you can, let him help you. He wants to, I gotta say I was shocked when I realised your boyfriend was a suit but he really loves you” he gave her shoulders a squeeze.

“I’m trying I really am I want to get better for him, after everything he did for me he deserves to have his girlfriend back but what if she’s gone forever? What if this scared little girl is who I am now?”

“Your still you Skye, Hyde didn’t take that from you no-one can she’s still there she’s just lost at the moment. You’ll find your way back to her, your one of the most persistent people I Know. You couldn’t give up even if you wanted to” she smiled up at him he always knew the right thing to say he always had. She chanced the next question, in normal circumstances she never would have brought it up. She was one of the few people besides Dex’s best friend back in Austen that knew about Katherine and why he had left the military.

“Did she ever get back to herself?” she rested her head on his shoulder, she felt him tense at her question. He didn’t like talking about Katherine if he could help it; it had been almost 5 years since she’d passed.

“I didn’t know her before it all happened” he said sadly “So I never knew who she had been but she was the love of my life, it didn’t matter to me if she had been a different person before. I loved her”

“If you knew what would happen, what you’d have to give up would you still have saved her that day?” he knew why she wanted to know, he hadn’t failed to notice the similarities between hers and the suits situation and his and Katherine’s.

“Yes I’d still do it; I could never have left her there not knowing what they were doing to her. What she was wasn’t her fault just like what you are isn’t yours” he said simply.

She nodded sadly “What if she left one day to try and save you all the pain that you went through?”

“I would have followed her to the ends of the earth, when you love someone like I loved her and he loves you. Letting go’s not an option, when she died a part of me did too if I hadn’t had you and Sam and all the other kids to look out for I’m not sure I could have survived it” his voice had grown gruff with emotion. Skye had never known Katherine but she wished she had if only because she was so important to Dex but also because if it hadn’t been for her he wouldn’t be who he was now. There was no doubt in her mind that if he hadn’t stumbled upon her in that lab that day that he would still be a military man and she would never have met him. She would never have learnt all she had about computer science on her own and she would never have found family with the Rising Tide, she sure as hell would never have hacked into S.H.I.E.L.D.S servers and found the redacted file on her parents. Although she’d come to regret some of her past actions if she’d never breached the S.H.I.E.L.D servers she never would have met Grant. All in all she owed Katherine Miller a lot and if the love of Dex’s life had managed to piece herself back together after her ordeal then she knew that she would too.

Patience was never something she had been very good at Skye was all about instant gratification but for her own sake and for Grant’s she would give herself time to heal. “I know you don’t like talking about her...So thanks” she looked up at him; she wanted him to see that she meant it. She knew how much it cost him to relive those memories and the de javu he must have felt when he helped rescue her from that building.

“It’s OK and if it helps then...she would have wanted that”

They sat in silence for a while it wasn’t awkward just reflective. “So...you and Simmons?” she gave him a playful dig in the ribs “What’s going on there?”

“To be honest I don’t really know, she’s a lot younger than me and it’s been a long time since I’ve really thought about a relationship but she’s so happy and just full of light. I like being near her even if I’m probably no good for her we’ve kissed a few times but...I really don’t know what’s going on there”

“OK for one of course you’re good for her you are one of the most amazing guys I know and I don’t know many so that’s saying something and secondly maybe it’s OK to just see where it leads. Maybe you don’t need to know where it’s going right now” she smiled at him the first real smile she’d produced since before she left the bus.

“There’s my girl, you always were good at this...understanding people I mean. Looks like you still are”

“I don’t know about that”

“You were always way too hard on yourself as well, looks like your still you after all” he smiled knowingly and pulled her in for a bear hug.

As they broke apart she felt his presence behind them, she wasn’t sure how long he’d been there or how much he’d heard but he was smiling and she wasn’t sure but he almost looked relived.

“Suit” Dex nodded at Grant.

“Hacker” Skye rolled her eyes at the exchange, seriously would it kill them to call each other by name.

Grant turned his attention to Skye “Hey” he said simply.

“Hey” she replied softly.

“I was worried when I woke up and you weren’t there, I thought you were hiding in the SUV again”

“No, no hiding I couldn’t sleep. I didn’t want to wake you so I thought I’d come and annoy Dex” she smiled and his heart swelled at the site. If he were a petty man he might have been jealous that it was the hacker she’d opened up to but he in that moment he was just to overjoyed at seeing Skye his Skye again even if it was just for a moment that he didn’t care.

“Oh well did you want to come back to bed or?” she got up from the couch and walked up to him. Wrapping her arms around his waist she burrowed her head into his bare chest and inhaled his scent she always felt at ease around Dex but around Grant she felt like she was home. She couldn’t deny that she had thought about leaving him, to spare him he’d already sacrificed so much for her and she knew he’d have to sacrifice more but if she did that she’d always be lost she’d never find herself and he would never let her go. As selfish as the feeling made her she couldn’t help the warmth that seeped into her soul at that she knew he would never give up on her. Dex was right she was still herself Hyde had not taken that from her and in that moment standing in the lounge with two of the people she cared about most she knew she would be OK.

“Let’s go to bed” she whispered.

They bade Dex goodnight and walked back to his bunk, his arm wrapped around her waist fixing her to his side exactly where she belonged.


	15. The Murder

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While the team have been focusing on finding Andrew Grayson, Fury had entrusted one of his best agents to try and track down the agent passing information to the enemy. When the agent in question winds up dead its up to Coulson and his team to find the culprit.

Grant woke with a smile, the warm bundle next to him stirred and moaned before drifting back to sleep. He reached over her and grabbed the clock from the bedside table 7am, this was serious progress a full night’s sleep his first since Skye had returned to the bus. Since her late night chat with Dex she had made vast improvements she still refused to enter the lab and sharp objects were avoided but her nightmares had lessened. She opened up more to Grant and the others and had managed not to destroy anymore lab equipment much to Fitz’s relief.

Putting the clock back quietly he turned so he was spooning her, she wriggled her ass against him to get more comfortable but he was starting to wonder just how asleep she actually was. He decided to find out slowly he moved his hands under the tank top she liked to sleep in gently massaging circles into the skin just above the waistband of her shorts. She stirred her butt pushing back against his crotch, for obvious reasons it had been a while since they’d been intimate. He’d never push her, he was a gentleman after all a regular Steve Rogers as Skye had told him once but he missed her warmth and enthusiasm. He gently stroked the long chestnut waves from her neck so his lips could plant gentle kisses up and down the tender column of exposed flesh. She sighed and turned in his arms her lips seeking his in the still dark room, it was a soft tentative kiss.

Slowly she opened her eyes and smiled “Morning robot” she’d started calling him robot again which normally would have irked him but he’d never been so glad to hear the damn nickname. It wasn’t mocking or teasing like it had been in the past, it seemed it was now a term of endearment. He stroked her cheek tenderly before steeling another kiss, she smiled against his lips. “I like when you wake me up like this, so much better than threatening me with push-ups” he chuckled at that, it was no secret that Skye was not a morning person especially when a gruelling training session awaited her. They would have to resume her training soon, now more than ever she needed to be able to protect herself but that could wait another day. It was Sunday; they had no mission Coulson had refrained from taking on any new cases. He suspected to give Skye time to recover from her ordeal, which he greatly appreciated. Although she was slowly returning to herself she was definitely not ready for field work. “I like waking you like this” his face broke into the smile he knew she loved the one that touched his eyes and revealed those dimples “I missed you” he rubbed their noses together pressing his forehead to hers.

“I missed you too; I know I haven’t been myself lately. I’m sorry” her tone was sad.

“Don’t be sorry baby, never be sorry” he soothed he didn’t want her to be sad and pensive he wanted to make her happy again, hear her laugh. He kissed her all over her face and every ticklish spot he could find until she was in fits of giggles. She wound her arms around his neck and pulled him as close as she physically could, deepening their kisses as heat pooled at her core. All of a sudden the atmosphere in the bunk changed from playful to one of pure need, she needed him like she never had before. Maybe it was because she’d come so close to never seeing him again, maybe it was all he had done and sacrificed to protect her but she needed to feel him deep within her.

She ran her fingers over the perfect plains of his body, his beautifully sculpted body honed from hours of training and years of battle. He was the quintessential warrior, her ever loving protector and as her hands explored him his found the hem of her tank and in one fluid motion he pulled it off over her head. He sat back on the bed pulling her with him so she was straddling his lap, she could feel his sizeable erection straining against his boxer shorts. He looked deep into her chocolate brown eyes they were almost black with lust. Her breathing ragged and heavy as her breasts heaved against his chest.

“Are you sure your ready for this, we don’t have too...” she cut him off crushing her lips to his; he didn’t need any more confirmation that this was what she wanted. She was most definitely ready for this as gracefully as she could she wriggled out of her sleep shorts as he stripped off his boxers. Finally after what had seemed like a lifetime they were skin to skin, when he looked into her eyes she felt like he was looking into the depths of her soul. His touch was the balm she needed it soothed the rot that had set in after her time with Hyde, she felt warmth seep into her veins again. The cold detachment was ebbing away, she could be strong again and as long as he was near she could be whole. They made love for hours, the morning slipped into the afternoon before they surfaced.

He strode out of his bunk in sweats and a tee not bothering to disguise his just fucked hair; he’d left Skye to rest while he grabbed supplies from the onboard kitchen. On his way back he spotted Simmons and Dex in a very domestic looking scene, he was sat on one of the comfy couches with her curled up in his lap they looked like they were doing some kind of puzzle together. Then it struck ward it must be soduku he remembered Jemma liked number puzzles they kept her mind sharp, not that with her numerous doctorates she needed any help in that department but after all the horrendous events of the last few weeks it was nice to see them so relaxed. Skye wouldn’t relate Dex’s history to Ward making it clear that they were his secrets to tell not hers all she would say was that it was a very sad story. He smiled to himself and left them to it, Simmons was so absorbed in the activity that she hadn’t noticed him at all but the hacker gave him a nod. Skye was right the guy did have Vulcan hearing, he wondered briefly what the rest of the team were up to; if they were enjoying what for him at least had turned out to be an amazing Sunday.

************************************************************************************************************************************************************************

Meanwhile in Coulson’s office he and May were having a very worrying conversation with director Fury.

“How is the girl?” the director asked, he’d come aboard whilst they were parked up at HQ.

“She’s doing better than I could have hoped, considering” replied Coulson.

“Was she able to give you any useful Intel on Hyde’s Order?”

“Well technically it wasn’t Hyde’s order he was only second in command, they’re funding their so called research with capital from a shell company called Johnson International CEO Dr Mark Johnson who we now thanks to Skye and Jarvis know is Dr Andrew Grayson” Coulson explained. May just sat silently, she was really just there to offer support to Phil and maybe kick some ass if they even suggested moving the girl. It was true that May and Skye had a very antagonistic relationship at times, they were polar opposites but she was a member of her team and Coulson’s niece she wouldn’t let S.H.I.E.L.D harm the girl.

“Grayson the ex head of research and development? That Grayson?”

“The very same, it seems he was the ringleader of the attack on Skye and her parents back in the previous directors day, he made claims that they had the full support of S.H.I.E.L.D for their actions. It was only when the council found out what they were up too that they were disowned” he was sure Fury would know the truth, Stark had once said that he was the original spy and that he knew everything that went on in his organisation.

“That part I have to admit is true; I suppose he told her that I wanted the same?”

“Yes Hyde did mention that to agent Ward, said you wanted his files so you could control his research” this was the crucial point that would determine if Skye would be safe if she were in S.H.I.E.L.D.S grasp.

“I’m not going to deny that in the past I have pushed the envelope when it comes to weapons development but I learnt my lesson after the tesseract incident. The only reason I want that mans research is to stop it from falling into the wrong hands. I don’t want to harm your niece Coulson, God knows she’s been through enough if she can learn to control her powers she’d be a huge asset to S.H.I.E.L.D maybe she could even become part of the Avengers Initiative but if she can’t...Phil if she becomes unstable or a threat to the world we will have to deal with her.” Director Fury took in the murderous glances that May and Coulson shot him “You know full well that I don’t want to have to go there, I owe you Phil, and the planet owes you. So I’m gonna give you some freedom here she can stay with you, on your team but it’s on you to make sure she keeps it together. If she can’t or the wrong people get hold of her again I will step in. Is that clear?”  
“Yes Sir” he breathed a sigh of relief he knew the risk Fury was taking to allow this.

“Now on to the other reason I’m here, we have a serious rat problem someone has been feeding Greyson information from within. I had agent Sitwell working on this but he turned up dead this morning, found hanging at his house apparent suicide. Except I’m not buying it, he was closing in on someone. Someone high up he was gonna brief me today, till this” he sighed “Sitwell was a good agent Coulson whoever did this had to be damn good to get the drop on him”

Coulson and May were shocked Fury was right Sitwell was one of the best, they knew him well had worked with the man in the past and now he was dead. Whoever this was, they were willing to go to great lengths to remain hidden. It hit home to both of them that it was not only Skye that was at risk but anyone who tried to help her of course it was doubtful Sitwell knew that was what he was doing but still. “We’ll track down whoever’s responsible for this sir you have my word on that”.

“Good, you might have better luck up here especially with your new helper. How the hell did you manage to get Dex O’Neil to come out of retirement?” just how many people had the Major worked with?

“You’d have to ask agent Ward the particulars he was the one who talked him into it, he’s an old friend of Skye’s like a big brother she told us” he explained.  
“Must really care about the girl to help you on this, do you know his history?”

“No his file was heavily redacted, he was black Op’s though it’s not unusual” he was curious now he guessed Fury must know.

“We’ve had dealings in the past not always friendly but he’s a good guy and an excellent soldier. He came across a young girl called Katherine Miller, she was a gifted she could manipulate particles speed them up, slow them down it was amazing to watch she could make a man explode literally but she could also heal. Her abilities caught the attention of a group called CERBERUS nasty assholes. They kidnapped her from her home when she was 18 they took her to a secret facility. She was experimented on, tortured, raped it was one of the worst cases until Hyde that I’d ever come across. CERBERUS works with the US military on various contracts, that’s how the Major came across the girl while he was working with their agents on an operation. Like I said he’s a good guy, when he saw what they were doing to her he couldn’t leave her. So he busted her out, took her to a safe house and then reported the incident to his superiors thinking they’d put a stop to it. What the poor guy didn’t realise was that the sons of bitches were in on it; luckily for her he hadn’t told them where he hid her. He acted like he understood when they fed him the usual it’s for the greater good bullshit, arranged to hand her over. Except he didn’t went on the run with her, left behind his whole life to protect her. They moved from place to place for two years nearly everyone who helped them ended up dead, he nearly died a few times there was a lot of close calls. S.H.I.E.L.D tried to help protect the girl but by the time we stepped in to help she’d had enough of running. The people chasing her were relentless, at the time the government and the military had no intention of reining CERBERUS in. Their CEO fooled her into thinking they’d finally killed Dex, she could heal the living not the dead. He hoped in her despair she’d give in and let them take her, she had the power to kill them all but that’s not who she was. He didn’t see the knife until she jabbed it into her jugular, she wasn’t like Skye she was human and she bled out before she could be saved. By the time we got there with him she was gone, it nearly destroyed him. I never saw a man so devastated, the least I could do for the guy was get the rest off his back. When he moved to Austen we made sure he had S.H.I.E.L.D protection, it must be really hard for him to help her like this. I really hope it doesn’t end the same way”

Jesus no wonder the guy was so mistrusting of authority, if it were possible Phil had found a whole new level of respect for Dex. All he’d been through, all he’d lost and he’d still come to Skye’s aid when she needed him. “Dear God, is he still a target?”

“Of the military No, I made sure they gave the guy his dues and left him alone when I became director of S.H.I.E.L.D, it’s amazing what you can do if you have the right information on the right people. As for CERBERUS Sec Def reined them in but if they came across him again...who knows. If I were you Phil I’d keep Dex as far away from CERBERUS as possible because I wouldn’t blame the guy for killing every last one of those sons of bitches”.

“He’d have a willing helper” May chipped in; she’d been so quiet they’d quite forgotten she was there.

“Yes well as much as I realise Agent Wards recent targets were necessary, please remind him that we are a government agency not a vigilante service. I understand he wants to protect the girl but we need to be careful we can’t knock off everyone that threatens her”

Coulson nodded reining agent Ward in could present a serious problem he knew that he was gunning for Grayson and his S.H.I.E.L.D insider but they needed them alive. They needed to know just how much they knew about Skye and what they had done to her, if they had her DNA they could be working on a serum now. They had to be stopped before anyone else was harmed and before they could get hold of his niece again.

“I want your team to investigate Sitwell’s death; I want the culprit found as soon as humanly possible before I lose anymore of my agents. This takes top priority, keep Jarvis running a search for Grayson but this is our main focus for now. I’ll have all Sitwell’s files and laptop sent here for Dex, Skye and FitzSimmons to work through. Keep me in the loop I want to know everything”

“Understood Sir, we’ll get right on it” Fury nodded at Coulson and May before taking his leave.

“So much for a quiet Sunday” May sighed “Do you trust him?”

“Fury, Yes. The rest of S.H.I.E.L.D until we know who murdered Sitwell and how many people are involved, No. Fury’s right this takes top priority we don’t stand a chance against Grayson unless we cut off his source of information” he reasoned.

“And what about our visitor?” May had no problem with the Major, in fact she was thankful to have another combat trained person on board it lessened her load a little but after Fury’s revelations he could be a risk.

“He’s proved his loyalty to Skye and to us, he was willing to go back for Ward even when he and Skye were safe. His tragic history aside he’s an asset to the team, we need all the help we can get at the moment” May nodded it was true their options had become limited when it came to back up and Dex had some serious skills, she respected that but something niggled at her.

“What if he’s using this mission to get revenge on CERBERUS, when he first came he said he was here for Skye as soon as she was safe he was gone but he’s still here and she’s back with us. He only agreed to stay on when he knew they were involved with Grayson” she reasoned.

“It is a possibility, he’s very closed off and he’s not likely to reveal his motivations to us but it is possible there’s another reason for his willingness to stay on” Phil Coulson was a very observant man, not much got by him. He had not failed to notice the looks that passed between the major and his biochemist the rules about fraternization only applied to field operatives not field operatives and consultants.

“Simmons? Is it wise to allow this?”

“Simmons is a big girl; it’s not our place to intervene in her personal life. She’s not breaking any rules and even if she were we overlooked Skye and Grant”

“I guess” she was worried about the young woman, the Major was a complicated man with a tragic past and Jemma was young but Coulson was right it wasn’t her place to intervene. She just hoped she knew what she was doing, despite Mays reservations about joining Coulsons team she’d grown close to all of them in her own way. She was not an extrovert nor did she wear her heart on her sleeve but when she could she would always protect her team.

“Best rally the troops, we have work to do” she nodded as he announced they would be meeting in the war room in ten minutes for an urgent meeting.

******************************************************************************************************************************************************************

They all gathered around the centre console in the war room, Skye was tucked into Wards side there really was no point in hiding their relationship anymore. Jemma and Dex were deep in conversation, while Fitz looked on in exasperation it seemed he’d lost his partner in crime just lately. When Coulson entered the room they all stood to attention, they knew it must be important if he was calling a meeting on a Sunday.

“We have a mission of great importance to carry out; it’s with deepest regret that I inform you all that agent Sitwell was found dead in his home this morning. Director Fury has asked that we carry out the investigation into his death” Everyone except May who already knew about this and Dex who had no idea who this guy was looked deeply shocked.

“Oh my goodness who would murder agent Sitwell? He was such a lovely man he didn’t even file a report after Skye and I...well you know and now he’s dead” Dex rubbed her back in a comforting gesture.

“Director Fury believes that his death may be linked to an investigation that he was carrying out. Agent Sitwell was closing in on whoever has been passing information to Andrew Grayson, we think that they were aware of this and that they murdered Sitwell to cover their tracks. He was supposed to brief Fury this morning, when he didn’t show Fury sent agents to look for him they found him hanging as if he’d committed suicide but we all know that is not likely. Agent Sitwell was a very experienced operative; whoever did this must have known him very well to get the drop on him”.

“Do you think this was another S.H.I.E.L.D agent then or an outside party. I mean we know Grayson hired CERBERUS to guard his HQ maybe he used them to silence Sitwell” asked Ward. Coulson did not fail to notice the tick in Dex’s jaw when CEREBUS were mentioned or the sympathetic look Skye shot him. He must have told her his story at some point; he wasn’t surprised his niece was very empathetic and very skilled when it came to people.

“They do have some very skilled assassins in their arsenal, it would make sense to use someone else to do the dirty work that way whoever this double agent is their hands stay clean” Dex reasoned.

“You seem to be very knowledgeable when it comes to CEREBUS” May shot.

“Like I said we’ve had dealings in the past” he wasn’t going to elaborate anymore, he knew Fury had briefed them so there was a good chance that he had also relayed his past involvement with S.H.I.E.L.D but he wasn’t having a heart to heart with the lady T-1000.

“Yes well that is certainly a possibility” Coulson diplomatic as ever steered the conversation back on track. “Since we have no idea who the rogue agent is we’ve been instructed to handle this alone meaning we report to Fury alone. Agents Fitz and Simmons I need you to investigate the scene and take a good look at Sitwell’s autopsy reports see if you can find evidence that may link anyone to this. Agent May and I will accompany you to the scene of the crime just in case it’s being watched. Skye and Dex all of Sitwell’s files and his laptop are being sent here, I need you to go through it all see if you can work out who he was closing in on but be careful, we don’t want to spook them. Ward you stay here with them, I know Dex can take care of himself but Skye will need a guard for the foreseeable future, I doubt that anyone would be foolish enough to try and take her on S.H.I.E.L.D property but I’m not willing to take the risk. We need to solve this problem and fast we don’t stand a chance against Grayson whilst he is being passed information on our every move. Besides that agent Sitwell was a good man and a good agent, he died merely for doing his duty someone has to pay for that” They all nodded in agreement. The mood on the bus had gone from one of deep relaxation to one of sadness and determination.

“FitzSimmons you need to get your gear together as fast as you can we’ll take the short bus to Sitwell’s place” they wasted no time departing for the lab but just before Jemma left the room Dex grabbed her arm.

“Be careful Jem OK?” he didn’t like that she was going without him, he understood why Coulson had asked him to stay and dig through files with Skye and he knew that Coulson and the ladybot were more than capable of taking care of the two young scientists. But still he hated that he wouldn’t be there to watch over her, however hard he tried to keep his feelings in check it was clear that he was falling for her.

“I will, I promise” she soothed she kissed him lightly on the lips before she left the room. May and Coulson had already left leaving him there with Skye and suit.

“She’ll be OK, Coulson and May they won’t let anything happen to her” Skye understood why he was anxious, she walked over and hugged him tightly. He wrapped his arms around her and hugged her back. He knew he was being irrational that she would be fine, but after everything he’d been through and everything he’d witnessed since he’d been onboard the tin can he couldn’t help but worry.

“I know” he smiled down at her as Ward looked on, confused by the exchange.

***************************************************************************************************************************************************************************

A few hours later as Skye and Dex were rifling through Sitwell’s files they came across a coded letter which cheered Dex up, he loved codes. To anyone else it would just have looked like a letter from a loved one but to the hackers it was obviously a gold mine of secret information.

FitzSimmons and the two older agents had returned a short while ago; the two scientists were going over autopsy reports in the lab whilst Coulson had retreated to his office to update Fury. May was on the stick and Ward was quietly reading in the corner, there really wasn’t much for him to do until he had a physical target to apprehend. He was glad to see that Skye was excited about work again though, she and Dex worked well together. It took them a little while to decipher the letter but once they had it lead them to a pass worded file on Sitwell’s personal laptop.

It was becoming obvious that an outside party had handled Sitwell’s assassination although most of the files had been wiped from his hard drive this one had been missed. Probably because Sitwell had been very careful to disguise this vital information a further testament to the fact that he was an excellent agent.  
When Skye cracked the file and scanned the information it contained her mouth fell open “Oh my god” Ward looked up from his book.  
“What is it? Did he find out who the double agent is?” he was all business now.

“Yeah but you’re not going to believe it” she shook her head, well she’d never liked the woman but she never thought her capable of this. Her own partner, she’d murdered her own partner to cover her back. Whether she did it by her own hand or had CERBERUS do it for her it was cold.

“Who is she?” Dex asked he’d never come across this one before but he didn’t like the look of her whoever she was. Her eyes were cold and cruel, she had supper villain written all over her.

“Well?” Ward prompted.

“It’s...Victoria Hand” she stammered still shocked by what she was seeing.

“What?! There has to be some mistake it can’t be” he couldn’t believe it Hand was as straight laced as they came; sure she was detached and blunt and maybe even uncaring at times but a murderer and a traitor?

“It’s all here Ward, phone records, photos of her meeting Hyde. He says he checked out anyone that worked closely with or for Greyson and my dad and he stumbled across this. A lot of people worked with them so he didn’t expect to find anything in it when he checked her out but he came across a few suspect emails that she’d tried to erase”

“Thing about the internet, nothing is ever really gone” Dex chipped in.

“So he followed her and took these, then he requested her phone records of course they were clean but he pulled the records from burner phones he’d seen her purchase”.

“I can’t believe this” it was one thing to think you had a traitor in your ranks but to have it confirmed was just...he couldn’t believe an agent he had looked up to, that had seemed so dedicated could have done this. He knew that Hand had never liked Skye but to throw her to Hyde and Grayson and then murder her own partner to cover her tracks was just so...well evil. Skye came over and sat next to Ward, she took his hand and squeezed she knew this must be hard for him S.H.I.E.L.D had been his whole life, he believed in everything it stood for and that his fellow agents were just as committed as he was. It was a horrible feeling when you realised that your beliefs were nothing more than fantasy.

“I’m sorry Grant, really I am Sitwell didn’t deserve this he was a good guy and I know he probably didn’t know it but he died helping us, helping me” she pressed her forehead to his. 

“The best thing we can do for Sitwell now is bring that traitorous bitch to justice before she hurts anyone else” wherever he’d gone he was back. Skye was right Sitwell had died helping them whether he knew it or not they owed him. “We need to brief Coulson”


	16. The Traitor

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Agent Hand is captured and brought onto the bus for questioning, while Coulson and May question agent Hand Skye and Ward have a very emotional conversation they've long put off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry this is a very emotional chapter but I hope the ending makes up for it.

Their captive sat cuffed to the chair in the interrogation room, glaring malevolently at the wall. Ward, May, Coulson and Dex were observing her on the screen outside and deciding who would do the talking. It was May that had brought her in after she gave Ward the slip and a split lip, which had made him hate the traitorous bitch even more.

“I think it best that Agent May and I take this, Hand is an experienced agent trained in interrogation tactics she’ll be hard to break. I want Skye kept away from her, she’s been through enough there’s no need to expose her to this. It’s no secret that she has always hated Skye, she won’t hesitate to try and screw with her head the last thing we need is for her to succeed” Coulson reasoned. There was also the fact that he did not trust Agent Ward to be in the same room as Hand, the way he was glaring at her made his intentions perfectly clear.

“Sure thing Phil, Me and suit here will go take care of the kids. Knowing Skye like I do Jem and Fitz won’t be able to keep her away for long” Coulson was right Ward should not be near that woman, she gave Dex the creeps and that was saying something. He wasn’t easily spooked but there was something very unsettling in her stare.

Ward was still glaring at Victoria Hand she was as much to blame for Skye’s ordeal as Hyde, Miles or Grayson. One of their own, an agent that had been entrusted with their location when they’d been holed up at the lake house, she sold them out and for what? It didn’t make sense she didn’t need the money, as far as they could see she had no scandalous secrets other than that she was a member of a psychotic order hell bent on using his girlfriend as a human lab rat. If it were possible his face soured further at that thought, yeah he could see why Coulson didn’t want him in the room with her he didn’t trust him either. They needed information from her and he knew she would use his emotions against him because it’s exactly what he would do.

Slowly he came out of his hate coma and nodded his assent, Dex was right to Skye would want to know what was going on and there was no way he was letting her near this room. She’d come so far these last few days...he couldn’t let Hand undo all that even if he had to tie her to the bed in his bunk. “Yeah lets go” he chanced one last glance at the screen before he followed Dex out of the room.

“Well that was easier than I thought it would be” May stated.

“Yes...he’s worried about Skye which is better than him being hell bent on murdering anyone who ever looked at her the wrong way. We still need to watch him Melinda he’s not himself, he hasn’t been since Skye was shot” the old Ward had been predictable a perfect agent that followed orders and respected protocol but this Ward was unpredictable a complete unknown.

“Well then let’s get this over with” she was ready for the fight of her life, bringing Hand in had been the easy part getting information out of her was going to be the real challenge. This was the problem when you played by the rules it seriously limited the tactics you could use but torture had always been a bug bear for Melinda ever since Bahrain. She wouldn’t resort to that even if her fellow agent wasn’t taught to withstand such methods, any information they did extract would be highly questionable.

They entered the room Coulson taking the chair opposite Hand, Melinda retreating to a dark corner of the room behind the rogue agent. Victoria remained silent; she did not acknowledge their presence just continued to stare at the same spot on the wall. It was Coulson that broke the icy silence “So, Agent Hand I suppose you know why you are here” he stated his gaze cold and hard a look he very rarely wore.

She surprised them both by answering they had expected her to remain silent “Yes Phil I know why you brought me in but it won’t do you any good, you’ll get nothing from me”

“We have our ways agent as I’m sure you know” his tone was deadly.

“I highly doubt you would resort to torture Phillip, don’t forget I know you. You cannot deceive or trick me so you may as well just lock me up” she smiled sweetly at him.

“No I wouldn’t Victoria but there are people on this plane that would, If you don’t comply maybe I will just walk out of this room and let one of them take over” he mimicked her smile.

She snorted “Your agent Ward? as I recall he couldn’t even bring me in without the Cavalry over there, why exactly would I be afraid of him?”

“Because very recently agent Ward killed 8 men with his bare hands and you threw him and my niece under the bus not to mention the fact that you almost certainly helped to conceal Miles Lydon and Andrew Graysons entry into the US so they could lure her into Hyde’s grasp. I suppose you are aware of his feelings for Skye if he is willing to kill for her imagine what he would be willing to do you” he smiled knowingly as a look of worry marred her features, it was a fleeting look before the hard mask came down but he had gotten to her.

“I’m not afraid of Grant Ward” she spat.

“He isn’t the only man on this bus close to Skye, you may not know that we were able to lure Major Dexter O’Neil out of retirement just recently but he has proven to be very useful. He is an experienced Black Op’s specialist with a knack for extracting information. I could always ask him to join us” he sat back and let that sink in for a moment, the major was an unknown to Hand sure she would have read his file if she knew he’d come to Skye’s rescue but she didn’t know him like the rest of them.

“I was aware, I really expected better from you. Tell me do you plan on getting to the point or are you just going to bore me to death?” she drawled.

“Very well how about an easy question then, how did you know Aiden Ross?”

“As far as I was aware Aiden Ross was one of your brother’s research assistants, based at the sandbox until his treachery was revealed causing him to flee to lands unknown” she smiled sweetly.

Coulson took the photographs that Sitwell had taken from the file he was holding and slid them towards her. “I’m sure when you had agent Sitwell killed you thought that your assassin had wiped all the information he had gathered on you. It seems however they were not thorough enough; my agents were able to recover a pass worded file containing these along with emails and phone records. It seems that you know Mr Ross very intimately indeed, given that you know him to be a murderer and a traitor I wonder why an upstanding agent like yourself would enter into such a relationship.”

She took the photographs her finger lovingly stroking over Hyde’s image, the gesture made May scowl and Coulson’s stomach clenched. “It’s complicated” she murmured.

“Uncomplicate it” his voice was sharp, her expression when she looked at that bastard had just confirmed what he suspected and it made him ill. He could understand if the man had blackmailed her into helping him, if he had exploited some deep dark secret but the fact that she was obviously in love with the sadistic prick boiled his blood.  
“Aiden and I until your agent Ward murdered him had been in love for a long time, I was a young agent fresh out of the academy he was a lab assistant one thing led to another. Do you need me to draw you a diagram” she sneered.  
“If you were so in love why did you not go with him when he ran?”

“I was not suspected and when I told my superiors that I had no knowledge of his and Grayson’s plans they believed me. Why would he tell me after all? Grayson asked me to stay on be his eyes and ears and look out for the girl, he knew she’d resurface eventually. We met when we could, I had to be careful but 21 years later and you only just figured it out I’d say we did a pretty good job of hiding our intentions”

“Yes you did Victoria but why? How could you when you knew what he was what he did to those women was horrific what they are still doing to innocent people”

“Grayson is only doing what is necessary to protect mankind’s future in the last few years our world has nearly been levelled twice how long before the avengers and the asguardians can’t save us? Your niece has powerful gifts that we cannot begin to understand unless we study her, her race seeded half the universe before they were driven to near extinction. She holds the key to our salvation you don’t wait until the enemy is on your door to build an army, you build your army so big that no-one dares to come knocking” well that just seemed to be the company line at Johnson International.

“Excuse me if I don’t believe that Andrew Grayson’s intentions are quite so noble, it seems he has learnt nothing from the world builder’s history. You have absolutely no idea what my niece is capable of and you want to mimic her abilities in others? Even if it were possible how on earth does Grayson expect to control them?” he was incredulous how could they be so foolish he’d been so focused on finding Skye he’d not really had time to think about the implications of what Grayson was trying to achieve.

She shrugged her shoulders “I’m sure Aiden and Andrew will have come up with something”.

“Anything they come up with would have to completely remove a person’s free will agent Hand. You are talking about slavery here or...” that collar! The medieval torture device that was currently sat in FitzSimmons lab, the one that had permanently scarred Skye that was how they were going to do it. They’d torture them into submission his stomach roiled again, he was relieved that Grant was not here to hear this. May had obviously had the same thought because she paled in the corner. “How could you be so blind not to see this, your an intelligent woman how could you condone this?”

“It’s necessary” her voice was cold as ice.

“Necessary? How could this be necessary? Even AIM used willing volunteers you are talking about creating a new race of slaves!” he couldn’t keep the disbelief from his voice.

“That’s the thing about S.H.I.E.L.D Phil you were never able to make the hard calls, you put your faith in a rag tag band of hero’s and hope for the best but at any moment they could desert you and then where will you be? Alone and powerless we are not the top of the food chain anymore something has to be done, you may not like Aiden’s methods but the man had a vision” she gushed when she spoke of him.

“A bat shit crazy vision” May piped up from her corner “You’re as crazy as he was, blushing over him like a fucking school girl. The man tortured innocent women for kicks; you obviously weren’t doing it for him. You murdered Sitwell, I’m not interested in semantics before you tell me that technically you didn’t, he’s dead and for what so you can protect a group of twisted psychopaths. Even if you learn to understand the girls powers what makes you think they’ll succeed where Bruce Banner, Aim and Centipede failed? I’m so sick of this Jekyll and Hyde shit. You’re all the same spouting all this BS about the greater good and necessary sacrifice but I don’t see you or Grayson lining up to slap on a collar and have that poison injected into your veins. That girl is not a plaything she’s a human being and it’s about time someone remembered that. If you or Grayson or anyone else tries to take her again then you better be prepared for one hell of a fight”. Coulson looked almost astonished such an outburst was unheard of from Melinda, indeed even the arrogant Agent Hand was taken aback.

She recovered herself quickly “I think that is the most I’ve ever heard you say Agent May, you can’t protect that girl forever we already got hold of her once it’s inevitable that we will again”

“Just watch me bitch” and with that May strode out of the room she’d had enough crazy talk for one day. Hand wasn’t telling them anything they didn’t already know and she wouldn’t they’d need to find Grayson themselves. She needed to lock that collar away so if Hand did manage to get free she couldn’t slap it on Skye, having that woman onboard made her seriously uneasy a feeling that she did not relish.

“Hmmm I didn’t think she had it in her” Hand stated.

“You’ll be surprised what Agent May is capable of, Where is Grayson?” he knew it was pointless but he may as well ask.

“Come on now Phil, do you really expect  
me to tell you that? Besides I couldn’t even if I wanted to because I don’t know. You are not going to find him until he wants you too and by then it will be too late” and with that she shut down, this interview was over he wasn’t getting anything more out of her but he hadn’t expected too.

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It was the early hours and Skye couldn’t sleep she tossed and she turned and eventually she gave up on sleep. All of a sudden she found herself in the lounge, one moment she was stood by the bed she shared with Grant and then in a flash she was in the middle of the common area. She whipped her head back and forth, had she gone mad? Was she dreaming? She pinched herself “Ouch” no definitely not dreaming. OK so she could teleport? She knew exactly what FitzSimmons would make of that but then they had also told her that there was no such things as telepathy or telekinesis and yet apparently she had been telekinetic in her youth.

If you had told her a month ago that she could turn solid metal to dust with powerful electric bolts that shot from her hands she’d have called you captain of the crazy ship. Was it really so impossible to believe that she could do this? Well there was only one way to find out, she’d been thinking of slipping off into the lounge when it happened so maybe if she thought about say...another flash and she was stood by the refrigerator in the kitchen huh. This was going to do nothing for her motivation; she could just see Grant’s disapproval now but it was kind of cool very star trek. It would certainly make sneaking around so much easier in fact there was somewhere she was desperate to go or rather someone she was desperate to see another flash and...

“Hello Skye, I wondered how long it would be before you found your way here. I didn’t expect such a colourful entrance but I’m glad to see you’re getting to grips with your abilities” Agent Hand looked the young hacker up and down and smiled it was almost genuine; it made the hairs on the back of Skye’s neck stand up. This was so not a good idea; maybe she should just pop back into Grants bunk.

“How did you know I’d come?” her curiosity got the best of her, damn it.

“Because I know you and I know you can’t resist the lure of answers, that’s how Aiden and Andrew trapped you in the first place” there was that creepy smile again.

“Who’s Aiden?”

“Oh I do apologise I believe you call him Hyde” Skye blanched at the mention of his name as a hundred memories hit her like a freight train.

“Oh”

“Oh, Indeed. You had better ask me what it is you came here to ask me, I doubt we have long before lover boy or super uncle come to your rescue” Skye couldn’t understand how anyone could be this relaxed and well arrogant when they had been cuffed to a chair for so long. She’d been cuffed in here herself in her early days with S.H.I.E.L.D and she didn’t remember feeling so chipper.

“Is he going to give up?”

“You’re an intelligent girl Skye what do you think?” her voice was almost sympathetic or at least less mocking.  
“Hmmm I didn’t think so, you know I never really liked you but I didn’t think out of everyone at S.H.I.E.L.D that it would be you that sold us out” she really had been shocked.

“It’s nothing personal Skye; it’s a necessary evil to protect our world. Your race were peaceful people they would want you to help defend your world. It’s selfish not to share your gifts with the world how many people have died? How many more will die in the future? Why would you not help them all they need is your DNA that’s all” she almost sounded reasonable.

“He tortured me...” she couldn’t keep the hurt from her voice.

“I know, I’m sorry I didn’t know about that truly I didn’t I know you think I hate you Skye but that’s not true. All I want all we all want is to ensure humanity’s survival, I know you want that too. I promise you, you won’t be harmed again not if you come in voluntarily”

“And if I don’t?”

“You love your friends don’t you? Your uncle, Grant? What do you think they would do if anyone tried to take you again?”

“They wouldn’t let them”

“No they wouldn’t but you realise just how lucky Grant was to escape with his life the last time he rescued you, he may be lucky the next time as well and the time after that but eventually he’ll meet his match. He will die defending you Skye, you will lose him and Phil, Melinda, Jemma, Leo, Dex and anyone else that stands between you and your enemy’s. They are desperate for this; they want so badly to defend our planet. There are dangerous people out there Skye Loki, the chitauri, frost giants that’s the tip of the ice berg. Somewhere out there is a race so violent they managed to wipe out your ancestors the most powerful race in existence. You can save us all, all the people you love from meeting the same fate or you can hide away while they all die to protect you”

Skye tried to digest that as crazy as Anderson and his goons were she was right about one thing, her team would all die to defend her. He would die to defend her, when she thought about losing him it eclipsed all the pain that Hyde had inflicted on her. There was no escaping the fact that one day she would lose him and it would be because of what she was. They’d never be able to lead a normal life, not that she’d ever lead such a life before but when she’d pictured her future. She’d seen a beautiful suburban home, the sweeping lawns, a white picket fence, a dog and kids. She’d never thought about marriage and kids before Grant but she’d wanted all those things with him and now that was impossible. She didn’t believe that Grayson or Hand were interested in the greater good, she knew that Hand just wanted to sweet talk her into going back to Grayson and that was not happening but she had to accept that she was bad for Grant.

“You’re right about one thing I’m no good for him, being around me’s going to get him killed but I will never give that man what he wants. You’re a liar just like him you don’t care about protecting humanity that’s not what this is about he wants an army and I don’t know why but I will find out” she would learn to use her abilities if only so she could take down the man that murdered her parents and all those innocent women.

“Well it was worth a try you were stupid enough to fall for it last time” they were back to mocking again. Well she’d got what she came for, she could find out the real reason for Grayson’s intended super army by herself she didn’t need hand for that.

“Well I’ve had just about as much crazy as I can stand for one night, hope you enjoy rotting in prison for the rest of your life” and with that she popped back into the lounge.

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Grant was waiting for her arms folded across his muscular chest, a pissed look on his face he knew exactly where she’d been and although he was shocked by her entry he recovered himself quickly.

“Where were you?” his voice was deadly quiet, oh boy she was in trouble. He’d made her promise specifically that she would not go and see Hand that she’d trust Coulson and May to deal with her just like he was doing and she’d just broken that.

“I couldn’t sleep, I went for a...walk” she tried but the look he shot her told her he was not impressed.

“I know you went to see her Skye, Dex was monitoring that video feed he saw you...whatever you just did in there. Just how long have you been able to do that?”

“Since about 30 minutes ago, it just happened OK I couldn’t sleep I thought about sitting in the lounge and I just kinda popped in here and then I thought about getting a glass of milk and I was by the refrigerator. I didn’t mean to go there but I was thinking about her and it just happened I’m sorry OK. I trust Coulson and May to handle her but I have to know if there’s ever going to be an end to this” he shook his head he was still furious with her but when her eyes shone with tears like that he couldn’t stand it. He walked over to where she stood and pulled her into a tight embrace.

“I know you want answers Skye but she’s as crazy as Hyde and Anderson, she murdered Sitwell, she sold us out and then she helped him get into the country so they could take you. You cannot trust a word she says, she’ll screw with your head. I just got you back I don’t want to lose you again” his voice was thick with emotion.

“I don’t want to lose you either Grant and if I were a stronger person I’d let you go, I’m being selfish because I can’t bear to the thought of not being with you” she cupped his face and looked deep into his warm brown eyes as tears cascaded down her face “I’m no good for you, what I am it’ll get you killed, you need to walk away because I’m not strong enough to” her words cut him like a knife, he couldn’t breathe.

“What? Did she tell you that?” he couldn’t believe what he was hearing.

“She didn’t tell me anything I didn’t already know, I just didn’t want to admit it to myself. When I thought about our future before we knew what we do now, I saw an end to all this I saw marriage and a house and kids but now all I see is death. You deserve a normal life Grant when all this is over you deserve to be happy. I can’t give you that” she smiled sadly at him, that stupid bitch Hand had really done a number on her. He couldn’t walk away he wouldn’t.

“Skye you can still have all that, we can have that if that’s what you want. When we catch Grayson this nightmare it’ll all be over” he looked at her tears in his own eyes willing her to understand, he’d give her the world all she had to do was ask.

“For how long a year, two until someone else crawls out of the woodwork? This is the only way to keep you safe, to keep them safe. I have to leave, I have to go it alone after Grayson” Go it alone? Leave?

“No! Skye that’s not an option I won’t let you, your wrong. Your strong Skye you can protect yourself, you can protect us. You just have to learn to control your abilities that’s all and we’ll all help you OK, I’ll help you but you’re not leaving me” he sank to his knees and wrapped his arms around her waist pulling her as close to him as he could. He buried his head into her stomach.

She couldn’t take it, seeing him like this begging her to stay “Please Grant, I’m trying to save you” she sobbed.  
“If you want to save me you’ll stay” he looked up at her, he didn’t care that he was begging that his dignity had be thrown off the bus. If that’s what it took to make her see sense then that is what he would do. “The only person that can hurt me is you, if you tell me you don’t love me and you leave me that’s the only thing that will kill me Skye is losing you. I know that its hard right now, I know these bastards want to tear us apart but we can’t let them. We can take the down together me and you and the team but if you leave then all those people that died your mom, your dad, Sitwell they’ve died for nothing. They wanted you to live not just to exist, not just to hide away or become some psycho’s lab experiment. If you leave you’ll end up right back where you were” he was grasping at anything he could think of to make her see.

She could barely see for tears as her body shook, why was this so hard for him to see and then she realised it clicked in her brain. A small voice piped up in her head, the one she’d always imagined had been her mother’s “He’s right”. She knew if their roles were reversed that she could never let him go, so how could she ask him to do the same, how could she hurt him like this. She sank down to her knee’s and pressed her forehead to his “I’m sorry, you’re right...I just I can’t stand the thought of losing you, of being the reason that your gone”.

It took him a moment before what she’d said sank in “I’m right here Skye, I’m not going anywhere without you” as sweet relief seeped into his veins, his anger long forgotten. He just about managed to get the next sentence out he hadn’t cried like this since he was a child “Please don’t ever do this to me again Skye, I can take anything else but this” she couldn’t respond chocked with tears she just nodded.

He kissed her hard and she matched his fervour they were overcome with pure need, they’d had so many close calls but this was by far the worst because it was Skye herself who had almost put an end to them. He tore the clothes from her body, within seconds they were naked. She straddled his lap as he pulled her onto his hard length; he had never needed her so badly in all his life. There was nothing slow or romantic about this, this was raw emotion and animal lust brought on by a conversation that had too long been put off. They drove each other onwards and upwards his hands digging into her hips controlling the pace. She had seen him like this in battle, this was Grant the alpha male he was claiming her marking her as his. “Your mine” he growled, she’d never heard him utter such a possessive thing before but she nodded her assent she was his, there was no doubting that, she was foolish to think she could let him go.  
They were exposed emotionally and physically, making passionate love in the middle of the lounge for all to see but neither of them cared. She cried out his name as stars exploded behind her eyes, her body convulsing around him not long after he found his own release. They held each other tightly gasping for air, she buried her head into the crook of his shoulder and he stroked her hair gently.

“I love you so much” he whispered in her ear “you’re all I want, all I need. You have to be mine”

“I am yours Grant” she soothed.

“No you don’t understand, you have to be mine officially” he looked her dead in the eye.

“What are you saying” this couldn’t be going where she thought it was, could it?

“I’ve been meaning to ask you for a while, when he took you I realised then you were the only woman I ever wanted. There’s not been a good time to ask you, I was going to wait until Grayson was out of the way but then you tried to leave and...There’s never going to be a right time and I know this is not the most romantic proposal in the world. I could do it better if you want but I can’t stand it any more. Marry me Skye, be my wife I know that I’m hard on you and that I’m terrible at feelings but your teaching me and I think I’m learning. You’ve made me a better man since the moment I met you, you make me see things differently, you make me question everything, you make me forget all my pain and you soothe the darkness in me. So just marry me and I’ll do everything I can to make you happy and keep you safe”

She froze that had to be the most romantic thing anyone had ever said to her, how had this happened how had she gone from trying to leave him to him proposing. Grant Ward proposing who knew he’d be so good at it too, he was watching her intently as she digested all that he had said. She didn’t think she had ever seen him look so vulnerable and she’d just witnessed him cry. There was only one answer she could give, because she was his body and soul. She needed him like air to breath, she would have laughed at her own stupidity but he was waiting.

She put her lips to his ear and whispered “Yes” and then her lips found his again. There happiness in that moment was a blazing light that chased away the shadows that had blighted them. Leaving him was not the answer they would deal with Hand and they would discover the reasons behind Andrew Grayson’s super army and then they’d take him down together. She would learn to control her abilities and protect the ones she loved and in between she would live the life her parents had died to give her.


	17. The Training Session

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dex and Simmons take their relationship to the next level as Skye try's to get to grips with her abilities.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So Ward proposed YAY :D this chapter we are going to look at Skye’s abilities while the boys try and train her up a bit. Which since none of them are gifted themselves is a bit like the blind leading the blind. Also I am so glad you all like Dex he’s my baby because he’s the lead character in my original fiction, I was a bit worried because I’ve paired him with Simmons. As much as I love her and Fitz together I really get more of a BFF vibe from them but as far as the show goes I hope I’m wrong for the FitzSimmons shippers. If you want to keep up with me and my goings on and all my work feel free to look me up on Tumblr my blog is called Skye’s scrapbook and my screen name is the same as on here Hollyedolly. Thank you so much for all your reviews you all rock.

“I knew being close to all these suits would change me, I feel like such a nark” Dex moaned, he was lounging across Simmons bed. It was well past midnight but as it turned out she was a night owl just like he was, so he often spent the small hours of the night in her company. If he was honest he spent nearly all of his time in her company but he assumed she would tell him if she was sick of him. Jemma Simmons was young, naive even but she knew her own mind and she was not afraid of giving her opinion. It was one of the many things he loved about her, she reminded him so much of Katherine.

“You did the right thing, nobody is going to think you’re a...nark” she crinkled her nose in distaste at the Americanism. God she was freaking adorable, he stifled a laugh. They’d yet to take their relationship to the next level, they’d tried on a few occasions but Fitz had the worst timing in the world and was liable to walk in as soon things heated up between them. If it weren’t for the fact that the kid looked bewildered every time he did it Dex would have thought he was doing it purposely to piss him off. 

“Yeah I guess, doesn’t sound like suits too happy with her though” the walls of the bunks were incredibly thin, Skye and Ward had been arguing or at least that’s what it sounded like for the past few minutes. Although he knew he had done the right thing, Skye being in a room with that evil Witch was just not a good idea. He couldn’t help feeling partially responsible for the argument now raging on the other side of Jemma’s wall.

“No he doesn’t but they’ll work it out they always do” she smiled, she was always so optimistic even after all the horrible things she’d witnessed, she still saw the bright side of things. She laid down beside him on the bed, at almost 6”4 and with broad muscular shoulders Dex was not a small man so they had to get creative to fit into the small bed in the end he was spooning her. One arm under his head the other wrapped protectively around her waist, he could smell her apple shampoo as her hair tickled his nose.

He sighed contently it had been a long time since he’d wanted to share a bed with a woman, don’t get him wrong he wasn’t celibate but after Katherine’s death he’d not really considered opening his heart to another woman. He knew full well that she would kick his ass for such moapy behaviour, he still had no idea where things were going with Jemma neither of them had discussed the situation both seemed happy to live in the moment. All of a sudden she started to giggle, her cheeks pinking with blush. “What are you laughing at?” he asked her bemused.

“I told you they’d work it out” she managed to get out in between fits of laughter, god he loved that sound. He listened for a moment and then he realised that the pair outside where making a different set of noises, in the lounge? Well go figure he’d never have pegged the strait laced Ward as an exhibitionist.

“Ha, well it looks like you were right Miss Jemma” he conceded, well two or more accurately four could play at that game. He could tell the amorous noise from the pair outside was having an effect on the young scientist, her breathing picked up and the blush that had infused her cheeks was rapidly spreading across her body. He knew that Jemma wasn’t virginal but she was inexperienced he would go slow, he wouldn’t push her but there was no way he could listen to that while her soft little body was pressed against his without it effecting him too. He brushed her long dark hair to the side as his lips found her neck he trailed feather light kisses from the juncture that met her shoulder up to her ear lobe, grazing it gently with his teeth before sucking it into his mouth. Her giggles turned into gasps as her body responded to him, her arm snaked around his neck so that she was pulling him closer to the sensitive skin of her throat.

She loved the way his stubble scraped against her over sensitised skin; the contrast between that and his soft lips was heavenly. When she could take no more she turned in his arms, her lips seeking his. She was no longer interested in what was going on outside her bunk; all she cared about was the gorgeous hunk of a man she was now kissing like her life depended on it. Her hands were deft and nimble and she undid the buttons on his shirt with ease, she’d always been incredibly awkward around any man that was not Fitz but Dex’s easy going nature seemed to seep into her. It soothed her nerves, she’d wanted this for a while now look at the guy what women wouldn’t? With his easy smile and open nature along with this rock hard body he was to die for. She ran her hands down his muscular back as their lips fused together.

He rolled so that she was spread out underneath him, his hands finding the buttons of her flannel pyjama top. He broke their kiss much to Jemma’s dismay and looked down into her hazel eyes “You’re so beautiful, are you sure this is what you want?” a true gentleman as always. Her teeth sunk into her lower lip, the site was incredibly erotic and she gave a nervous nod. Very slowly she was sure he was teasing her he undid the buttons of her top, sliding the material down over her shoulders. She relished the way his eyes widened as he took in her modest curves, he took her mouth into a slow deep kiss that curled her toes and made every nerve ending stand to attention. He explored her body leisurely until finally he cupped her breast, hmmm perfect fit he took one rosy nipple into his mouth whilst massaging her other breast making sure to skim his thumb over her other nipple. Her eyes fluttered shut as she softly moaned her approval; she could feel the delicious pull in her groin as liquid heat pooled at her core. She ran her fingers through his dirty blonde hair and then all of a sudden she was bereft.

He was planting soft kisses down from her breasts across her stomach making her shiver with delight, when he reached the waistband of her pyjama bottoms he looked up at her mischievously. Oh this was going to be good, even with her limited experience she could tell that, this would not be a clumsy fumble in the boiler room restroom. He peeled her pants off her legs and then hooked his thumbs into her cotton panties and swiftly relieved her of those too. Lifting her foot to his mouth he gently kissed and nipped the pad of each toe before sliding his tongue up her instep looking at her all the while. Nobody had ever done that before and she had to admit she was a fan as the new sensation shot straight to her sex. He kissed and sucked his way up her long legs paying special attention to the tender skin behind her knee repeating the process with her other leg. She let out a strangled cry as he worked her over, undoing her with tender kisses. She’d never had sex like this before; she’d seriously been missing out after what seemed like forever he was where she needed him. Playfully he nipped her thigh before his tongue found her swollen clit; she bit down on her lip again to stifle her cries carefully he slid one long finger into her hot sex she was definitely ready.

As much as she was enjoying his attentions she desperately wanted no needed to feel him inside of her. “Please” she gasped.

“What do you want baby” his voice thick with lust.

“You” he didn’t need telling twice he pulled a foil packet from his back pocket, before shedding them and his boxers. Her eyes widened briefly before darkening with desire he was in perfect proportion and she couldn’t help but lick her lips. She couldn’t believe her own crudeness, Skye’s bad girl shenanigans were definitely rubbing off on her or maybe she had it in her this whole time. She watched as he sheathed his length in latex her eyes never leaving his, then he was between her thighs and she realised this was finally going to happen. God help Fitz if he walked in here now because as much as she loved him she would kill him. He slid into her deliciously slowly and she revelled in the exquisite bite, he was filling her, stretching her and the feeling was out of this world. He began to move inside of her his pace steady as they both enjoyed the feel of the other, in her current position she was completely at his mercy.

He certainly knew how to make a woman feel special whispering sweet nothings into her ear between his own moans and an expletive or two which she found was a massive turn on. She could feel her climax building as he increased his pace, finally she cried out his name as she fell over the edge her body convulsing around him. Her release triggering his, he collapsed on top of her and she wrapped her arms around his neck as they both panted for breath. Slowly they came back down to earth, planting a tender kiss on her lips he gently pulled out of her. Knotting and flinging the condom into a nearby paper bin. He rolled onto his back pulling her with him so she was sprawled across his chest.

Wrapping his strong arms around her, he held her close as they recovered their breathing. All was now quiet outside the walls of her bunk Skye and Ward must have taken themselves elsewhere. She began to giggle once more; he looked down at her cocking an eyebrow “What’s so funny this time?”  
“Oh it’s silly really, I’m just so glad that Fitz didn’t interrupt us this time” she beamed.

“You and me both baby” she turned over so that she was lying directly on top of him, looking him in the eye “What are we?” all humour had left her face as her brown wrinkled. He reached up to kiss it softly.

“What do you want us to be?” he really wasn’t sure what he wanted her to say but he knew he didn’t just want to be friends with benefits or an easy lay for her but was he ready to put himself out there again.

“I don’t know...I mean it’s just that you have a life in Austen at your bar and I can’t leave my team. It seems like it’s going to be really hard to see each other when all this is over” all of a sudden her heart clenched as sadness overtook her as amazing as tonight and all their time together had been it seemed it was not meant to last. He ran his thumb over her cheek tenderly he hated seeing her anything but happy.

“Do you want this to end when I leave?” he asked a little self consciously.

“No” her reply was instant, he sighed with relief he wasn’t sure if he could have handled a yes. He would have but it really would have sucked.

“Well you get leave don’t you?” he reasoned.

“Yes”

“Then you can come and stay with me at the bar or I can come see you wherever it is you live” he smiled at her as her face lit up. Then she broke down into a fresh set of giggles. “And what Miss Simmons is so funny now” he said in mock exasperation.

“You do realise that Fitz is my Roommate in New York” how did he not see that one coming and then he was laughing with her, he could just imagine the kids face if he walked in on them at home.

“Well we better make sure the lock on your bedroom door is secure then”

“Oh and why would that be?” she asked in feigned innocence.

“Don’t give me that crap baby you know full well why” lust clouded his voice again.

“Animal” she chuckled, as her cheeks pinked again. God he loved that blush he put his lips to her ear and whispered in a way that made every muscle south of her waistline clench.

“You have no idea” and with that they abandoned their serious discussion for the night or more accurately morning.

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Jemma was slumped at one of her lab tables a mug of very strong coffee in one hand as she desperately tried to pep herself up. Marathon sex was amazing especially with Dex but she had barely slept and as a result she was finding it almost impossible to focus on her work.

“Are you alright Jemma?” Fitz asked making her jump.

“What?...yes, yes fine just a little tired” she replied.

“I’ve told you before you work far too late” he chastised her. She smiled to herself oh if only he knew then again perhaps he did and he was just being diplomatic. That was so Fitz she smiled over at her best friend who was busy pouring over schematics for a new medical scanner he was working on. Speaking of destroyed lab equipment the boys were busy attempting to work with Skye on her abilities she wondered briefly if Skye was as tired as she was. Perhaps training her in the art of electrocuting things was not such a good idea, she really wasn’t the best shot at the best of times. Hmmm...there was a loud pop behind her as Skye materialised from nowhere, Jemma’s mug went flying and shattered as it hit the floor sending china and hot coffee everywhere. She clasped her hand to her chest as shock 

overtook her “Bloody Hell Skye when?..how?”

“Since last night” Skye answered her unspoken question as Jemma recovered herself slightly. “Sorry, are you OK?” she asked apologetically.

“Yes I’m fine she reassured her friend but you do realise where you are?” Jemma asked her cautiously. Fitz who had nearly jumped a foot in the air at her entrance as well had also recovered himself and was now watching the young hacker apprehensively.

“Oh” Skye squeaked as fear spiked through her system she knew it was irrational that this lab was nothing like the one she was imprisoned in but... “Ward said you were in the kitchen, I just thought of you and I appear near whoever or whatever I’m thinking of. I’ll just...I’ll just go” and with that she filled her mind with thoughts of Grant with another loud pop she was back in the training area. Leaving a very stunned and partially relieved FitzSimmons in her wake.

Dex and Ward were waiting for her when she materialised bantering like frat boys as usual.

“How was that?” Ward asked.

“Well it worked just like last night but Jemma was not where you said she was she was in the lab” she really was pissed at herself it was just a room nothing more, she’d have to go back in there some time.

“Crap...Skye I’m sorry maybe we should leave that one for now” he reasoned. May had told him straight and Coulson seconded the demand that he not work on her bolts. 

He remembered her stoic expression as she reminded him that metal planes and high voltage electricity did not mix. There was no way he was crossing May so they’d agreed to start with her teleportation which she seemed to have down and the telekinesis that Greyson had apparently witnessed when she was a child.  
“Well how about we move on to the telekinesis, since she’s not displayed that so far it seems like the one we should work on. There’s no doubt it’ll be useful” Dex piped up.

“Sound cool” and it was so was the teleportation she at least to some degree felt in control of that, when she tried to use her bolts it always worked best if she was pissed but then she felt so out of control she was terrified of hurting one of them maybe if she could get the telekinesis down she wouldn’t need to resort to them.

For hours she tried to move inanimate objects with her mind small weapons, dex’s watch, one of Coulsons prized tumblers even the SUV thinking maybe a larger object may be easier to move but nothing budged. After what felt like the millionth attempt she huffed in frustration.  
“This is so not working” she moaned.

“Give yourself a break hon, if that maniac was right you haven’t done this since you were three and it looks like your abilities are coming back slowly” always the calm voice of reason.

“Hackers right Skye, this is going to take time you just need to keep practising. You’ll get better” Grant soothed.

“Well for one to get better I need to actually be able to do it and secondly can you two call each other by your actual names please. This whole suit, hacker thing you got going on is sooo not cool OK” she scolded them.

“I’ll stop calling him hacker when he stops calling me suit” said Ward and then shook his head at himself; OK maybe she had a point that was so immature.

“Real mature there Suit” Dex chuckled.

“Fine” he acquiesced.

“How’s it going in here” asked Coulson distracting the trio, he was closely followed by May.

“It’s not” Skye explained dejectedly.

“That’s not true, she has the teleportation down Sir but the telekinesis needs more work” Ward corrected.

“Well that’s a good start, especially since none of us has ever trained anyone with abilities before. This is a learning curve for all of us Skye” he smiled calmly at her.  
Melinda had been watching their practice from the top balcony on and off for most of the day and she had formulated a plan. There was no way they would think to try this but she had to learn and fast because though none of the others would tell her this her mere presence put everyone in danger. She’d have to be able to protect herself and them if they wanted to be able to avoid losing any of the team. She’d meant what she said to Hand she would protect the girl and she would teach her to fend for herself as well.

She picked up one of the practice knives from the mat and with the grace of a feline she flung it straight at Skye. “Deflect it” she ordered. Just before it would have collided with her face a rather startled Skye sent it sailing back towards May who caught it easily. “Good” she simply stated.

“Good?” spluttered Skye “You threw a knife at my head!”

“Yes I did, but it was a practice knife” succinct as ever “You moved it didn’t you?”

“But I could have accidently blown you up” how could May be so damn calm all the time. She had no way of knowing that she would move it she could have just shocked her instead. 

“Skye every second you’re on this plane you could do that, if you spend all your time focused on that you will never learn to use and control your abilities. It was a calculated risk that paid off, you did move it. Now you know you can, fight or flight you may be a Hybrid but you were raised as a human which means you have human instincts so use them” Skye hated to admit it but it made sense maybe Ward and Dex were not being tough enough with her.

Damn the lady T-1000 had balls “You got balls lady suit I’ll give you that” Dex shot at her. That earned him a slight smile, wow she could smile who knew?

“Well Agent May as effective as that little demonstration was I’d appreciate you not throwing knives at the team without proper warning” said a rather amused Coulson. With that he was up the stairs and back to his office to check in with director Fury they would be handing over Agent Hand who was still chained up in the interrogation room very soon.

“Practice” May instructed before she left to land the bus at HQ.

“Well that was illuminating” Dex offered.

“It was stupid and reckless” Ward was pissed had there been any need for that? He knew May was trying to help but throwing sharp implements hardly seemed like the answer to the problem.

“It was but it worked” Dex reasoned “Plus she got the result we didn’t” he shrugged.

“Are you OK Skye?” he walked over to his fiancée and enfolded her into his arms, she buried her head against his muscular chest. Hmmm her body instantly relaxed and the adrenaline that had spiked at May’s surprise attack ebbed away.

“She’s right; I think you guys are going too easy on me. Her methods suck but...well I need to get this down and fast” he tilted her face up so he could plant a soft kiss on her lips.

“You did well OK, we’re almost at HQ we’ll call it a day today but if you want we can try it May’s way tomorrow” she did not want, who would? But she knew May was right she had to practice in a battle scenario it’s when her abilities worked best and when she would need them most.

“Wheels down in five” they heard May’s voice over the onboard com.

***************************************************************************************************************************************************************************

They handed over their captive without incident for Director Fury to deal with and deal with her he would. That guy was really frightening when he wanted to be, Skye was sure she saw Hand blanch at the look he threw her when he and Commander Hill took her in. Now the bus was parked up at HQ for the night and all was quiet. They still had no news of Greyson which was probably a good thing since she was nowhere near ready for the mother of all confrontations that she knew it would be. 

No most of the team were relaxing in the lounge, Coulson, Dex, Fitz and Simmons were sat playing scrabble and Jemma was beating them all as usual. Grant was busy with a new book but not for long because if they were going to do this they were going to do it properly which meant they had to tell their friends.  
She came to stop in front of him, he smiled at her as he looked up from his book “We need to tell them about us” she said.

“Now?” he asked “shouldn’t I ask Coulsons permission first?” he smirked.

“Only if you want a smack, he may be my uncle but I’m no ones property Grant Ward” he chuckled as if he didn’t know that, despite her proclamation that she was a proper southern girl. He knew full well she was very much a modern woman and did not stand on tradition or ceremony.

“You’ll not be vowing to honour and obey then?”He smirked.

She folded her arms and raised an eyebrow; she was sexy when she was mad. “What do you think robot?” and then she giggled she knew full well he was not serious.

“I think we better make this official” he beamed. He really had a breathtaking smile; he really needed to do it more often. He offered her is hand when he stood and they walked over to the others where Fitz and Simmons were having a rather animated argument over a word score as Dex and Coulson looked on amused.  
Ward cleared his throat and they all looked over at him “Skye and I have some news that we thought you should know” when nobody responded he carried on “we’re engaged” the reaction was instant. Jemma was on her feet making a very high pitched sound and hugging Skye very tightly.

“Oh my goodness this is wonderful news” she gushed.

“Congratulations mate” Fitz clapped Ward on the shoulder and gave Skye a hug and a kiss of the cheek when Simmons finally released her. She’d moved on to squeezing the life out of Grant, who smiled down at her indulgently.

Dex was next congratulating them he shook wards hand “make sure you take care of her suit, don’t think I won’t kick your ass if you don’t” he warned.

“You know I will” Ward responded and he fully intended to take very good care of her for as long as she would let him.

He pulled Skye into a big bear hug “Congrats baby girl or should I say Mrs Suit” he winked and she rolled her eyes lovingly at her surrogate big brother.  
Coulson was last and he was smiling which Ward was relieved about “Congratulations to both of you, I had a suspicion this may happen. Now if you’ll excuse me I had a bet to collect on” and with that he strode off no doubt to inform May who was holed up in the cockpit.

“Well I think this calls for a drink” Fitz chimed in, he produced a bottle of Coulsons best scotch and poured them all a glass. “Here’s to the future Mr and Mrs Ward, may they have a long and happy life together” they all clinked glasses.

It was in that moment that Skye knew this was her home, Grant would be her husband her team would be her family and these peaceful moments’ in between missions would be the ones they lived for. She smiled blissfully happy as she sipped her scotch with her friends.


End file.
